ctober  9,  1911. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF  AGRICULTURE, 

FOREST   SERVICE  —  BULLETIN   99. 

HENRY  S.  GRAVES,  Forester. 


USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES: 


II.  PINES. 


BY 


WILLIAM  L.  HALL, 

ASSISTANT  FORESTER, 


AND 


HU  MAXWELL, 

EXPERT. 


FORESTRY 

I 

COLLEGE  OF  A  AGRICULTURE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1911. 


Issued  October  9,  1911. 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

FOREST   SERVICE  — BULLETIN  99. 

HENRY  S.  GRAVES,  Forester. 


USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES: 


II.  PINES. 


BY 

WILLIAM  L.  HALL, 

ASSISTANT   FORESTER, 
AND 

HU  MAXWELL, 

EXPERT. 


WASHINGTON  : 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1911. 


'••   '••••  LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

FOREST  SERVICE, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  June  10,  1911. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  manuscript  entitled, 
"  Uses  of  Commercial  Woods  of  the  United  States :  II.  Pines,"  by 
William  L.  Hall,  Assistant  Forester,  and  Hu  Maxwell,  Expert,  and 
to  recommend  its  publication  as  Bulletin  99  of  the  Forest  Service. 
Respectfully, 

HENRY  S.  GRAVES, 

Forester. 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction 7 

Longleaf  pine 8 

Physical  properties 8 

Supply 8 

Early  uses 9 

Exports 10 

Shipbuilding 11 

Heavy  construction LI 

Railroad  timbers 12 

Manufacture  and  products 12 

Paving  blocks 13 

Miscellaneous 14 

Naval  stores 14 

By-products 16 

Shortleaf  pine 17 

Physical  properties 17 

Supply 17 

Early  uses 18 

Manufacture  and  products 19 

Loblolly  pine 20 

Physical  properties 20 

Supply 20 

Early  uses 22 

Manufacture  and  products 22 

Railroad  timbers 23 

Fuel 24 

Cuban  pine 24 

Physical  properties 24 

Supply ' 24 

Manufacture  and  products • 25 

Pond  pine 26 

Physical  properties 26 

Supply 26 

Manufacture  and  products 27 

By-products : 27 

Spruce  pine 27 

Physical  properties 27 

Supply  and  uses 28 

Sand  pine 28 

Physical  properties 28 

Supply  and  uses 29 


477624 


4  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Scrub  pine 29 

Physical  properties 29 

Supply ! 29 

Uses 30 

Table  Mountain  pine 31 

Physical  properties 31 

Supply  and  uses 31 

Pitch  pine 31 

Physical  properties 31 

Supply ...  32 

Early  uses 32 

Farm  timber  and  boat  building 34 

Manufacturing 34 

White  pine 35 

Physical  properties 35 

Supply 35 

Early  development 37 

White  pine  lumbering 39 

Shipbuilding 43 

Bridges 44 

Houses : 45 

Shingles 46 

Furniture 47 

Boxes 48 

Cooperage 48 

Farm  uses 49 

Water  pipes 50 

Miscellaneous  uses 51 

By-products 53 

Diseases 53 

Norway  pine 54 

Physical  properties 54 

Supply 54 

Shipbuilding 55 

By-products 56 

Jack  pine 57 

Physical  properties 57 

Supply  and  uses 57 

Western  white  pine 58 

Physical  properties 58 

Supply 58 

Uses 59 

Western  yellow  pine 61 

Physical  properties 61 

Supply 61 

Early  uses 63 

Manufacture  and  products 63 

Sugar  pine 65 

Physical  properties 65 

Supply 65 

Early  uses 66 

Manufacture  and  products 67 


CONTENTS.  5 

Page. 

Lodgepole  pine 69 

Physical  properties 69 

Supply *• 69 

Wigwam  poles 71 

Early  uses 71 

Mine  timbers  and  fence  posts 72 

Manufacture  and  products 72 

Jeffrey  pine 73 

Physical  properties 73 

Supply 74 

Uses 74 

Arizona  longleaf  pine 75 

Chihuahua  pine 75 

Physical  properties 75 

Apache  pine 75 

Arizona  pine : 76 

Physical  properties 76 

Supply  and  uses 76 

Mexican  white  pine 76 

Physical  properties 76 

Supply  and  uses 76 

Singleleaf  pinon. 77 

Physical  properties 77 

Supply 77 

Local  uses^ 78 

By-products 79 

Mexican  pinon 81 

Pinon 81 

Physical  properties 81 

Supply  and  uses 82 

Parry  pinon 83 

Physical  properties 83 

Supply  and  uses 83 

Monterey  pine 83 

Physical  properties 1 83 

Supply  and  uses 83 

Coulter  pine 84 

Physical  properties 84 

Supply  and  uses 84 

Torrey  pine 85 

Physical  properties. 85 

Supply  and  uses 85 

Gray  pine 85 

Physical  properties 85 

Supply 85 

Early  uses 86 

Manufacture  and  products 87 

By-products 88 

Whitebark  pine 88 

Physical  properties 88 

Supply  and  uses 89 

Limber  pine 91 

Physical  properties 91 

Supply 91 

Uses..  92 


t>  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

California  swamp  pine 93 

Physical  properties 93 

Supply  and  uses 93 

Knobcone  pine 93 

Physical  properties 93 

Supply  and  uses 94 

Bristlecone  pine ." 94 

Physical  properties 94 

Supply  and  uses 95 

Foxtail  pine 96 

Physical  properties 96 

Supply  and  uses 96 


USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
II.    PHSTES. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Thirty-seven  species  of  pine  grow  in  the  United  States,  no  one 
species  in  all  the  States,  yet,  with  perhaps  one  exception,  no  State 
is  without  one  or  more.  Some,  as  the  loblolly  pine  of  the  South,  the 
white  pine  of  the  North  and  East,  and  the  western  yellow  pine,  oc- 
cupy large  regions  in  considerable  abundance,  while  others,  as  the 
Apache  pine  of  the  Chiricahua  Mountains  of  Arizona,  the  Torrey 
pine  along  the  Soledad  Kiver  in  California,  and  the  sand  pine  near 
the  Gulf  coast  of  Florida  and  Mississippi,  are  so  scarce  that  few 
persons  ever  see  and  recognize  them.  Yet  no  species  of  pine  is  so 
scarce  that  it  is  not  made  in  some  way  to  serve  man's  needs. 

About  48  per  cent  of  the  total  lumber  output  for  the  United  States 
in  1908  was  pine.  The  longleaf  probably  furnished  more  than  any 
other  single  species,  and  white  pine  was  next.  The  western  yellow 
pine,  which  is  more  widely  distributed  than  any  other  pine  of  this 
country,  is  a  large  producer  of  lumber,  and  the  western  white  pine 
and  the  loblolly  also  rank  high  in  quantity.  This  bulletin  considers 
each  species  separately.  The  places  which  some  species  occupy  are 
very  humble,  and  they  can  never  rise  much  in  the  scale  of  usefulness, 
yet  each  one  is  entitled  to  its  own  individuality. 

Four  important  timber  trees  of  the  southeastern  United  States 
are  usually  grouped  as  one  in  the  lumber  market,  and  are  sold  under 
the  common  name  of  yellow  pine.  They  are  the  longleaf  pine,  short- 
leaf  pine,  loblolly  pine,  and  Cuban  pine.  In  appearance  the  woods 
of  these  four  trees  are  so  nearly  alike  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
distinguish  one  from  the  other;  yet  in  some  particulars  there  is  con- 
siderable difference.  This  is  often  seen  in  the  growth  rings.  Long- 
leaf  annual  rings  are  usually  narrow,  shortleaf  wide  near  the  heart, 
followed  by  a  zone  of  narrower  rings,  while  loblolly's  rings  are 
generally  very  wide.  The  Cuban  pine  also  has  wide  rings.  The 
proportion  of  sapwood  to  heart  is  usually  different  in  the  four 
species.  Longleaf  pine  over  a  foot  in  diameter,  breast  high,  rarely 
has  sapwood  over  2  or  3  inches  broad;  shortleaf  sapwood  in  trees  of 
like  size  usually  measures  4  inches,  while  loblolly  often  runs  from 

7 


'^;'<;  Vttefcs'qa  COJMMEKCIAL  WOODS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

4  to  6  inches.  The  sapwood  of  the  Cuban  pine  resembles  that  of 
loblolly  more  than  longleaf.  In  resin  contents,  longleaf  is  very 
abundant,  loblolly  less  so,  and  shortleaf  still  less.  In  this  particular 
Cuban  pine  ranks  close  to  longleaf.  The  weight  of  the  wood  of 
the  four  species  varies  through  rather  wide  limits,  and  it  would  per- 
haps not  be  practicable  to  distinguish  them  by  that  test  alone. 

LONGLEAF  PINE  (Pinus  palustris). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood.— 43.6  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.70  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.25  per  cent  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 94  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 16,100  pounds  per  square  inch 
(Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 2,118,000  pounds  per  square  inch 
(Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Heavy,  hard,  very  strong;  tough;  grain  fine,  even, 
straight ;  compact,  annual  rings  narrow,  especially  in  young  and  old  growth, 
summerwood  broad,  occupying  fully  half  the  width  of  the  annual  growth,  pro- 
portion of  heartwood  large;  very  resinous,  resin  passages  numerous  and  large; 
medullary  rays  numerous,  conspicuous;  color  light  red  or  brown,  the  thin-  sap- 
wood  light  yellow;  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Growth. — Height,  55  to  100  feet ;  diameter,  1£  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  commercial  range  of  longleaf  pine  lies  in  Alabama,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Texas.  Few  woods  have  a  greater  number  of  names  in  different  local- 
ities than  this  tree.  Among  them  are  longleaved  pine,  southern  pipe, 
yellow  pine,  turpentine  pine,  rosemary  pine,  brown  pine,  hard  pine, 
Georgia  pine,  fat  pine,  southern  yellow  pine,  southern  hard  pine, 
southern  heart  pine,  southern  pitch  pine,  heart  pine,  pitch  pine,  long- 
leaved  pitch  pine,  long-straw  pine,  North  Carolina  pitch  pine,  Georgia 
yellow  pine,  Georgia  heart  pine,  Florida  yellow  pine,  Florida  pine, 
Florida  longleaved  pine,  Texas  yellow  pine,  Texas  longleaved  pine. 

The  total  stand  of  the  timber  pines  of  the  South  is  estimated  by  the 
Bureau  of  Corporations  at  384  billion  feet.1  Of  this  amount,  232 
billion  feet  is  of  longleaf  and  152  billion  feet  of  shortleaf  and  lob- 
lolly pine.  The  figures  for  the  longleaf  include  whatever  there  is  of 
Cuban  pine,  as  the  two  species  were  not  distinguished  by  the  Bureau 
of  Corporations.  It  has  been  roughly  calculated  that,  at  the  present 
rate  of  cutting,  the  supply  of  the  southern  pines  will  last  from  20  to 
30  years ;  and  since  the  rate  of  lumbering  is  relatively  about  the  same 
for  all  regions  where  the  different  species  grow,  it  is  assumed  that 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Corporations  on  The  Lumber  Industry,  February,  1911. 


LONGLEAF   PINE.  9 

failure  of  supply  will  come  to  the  four  species  at  about  the  same  time. 
Much  more  of  longleaf  and  loblolly  remain  than  of  shortleaf  and 
Cuban. 

Longleaf  pine  in  many  sections  of  the  South  reproduces  itself 
with  vigor,  but  because  of  its  slow  growth  while  young  it  fails  to 
establish  itself  as  well  as  the  white  pine  of  New  England  and  the 
yellow  pine  of  the  far  West.  Fire  is  the  one  great  enemy  over  all 
of  its  range,  and  destroys  seedlings  in  vast  numbers,  though  larger 
trees  resist  well  where  they  have  not  been  boxed  for  turpentine. 
The  prospect  that  new  growth  will  take  the  place  of  the  forests  now 
going  down  before  the  lumbermen  is  not  encouraging,  more  because 
of  slow  growth  than  of  difficulties  in  reproduction.  The  annual 
drain  upon  southern  pine  forests  to  supply  the  demand  for  lumber, 
and  the  fact  that  fires  interfere  so  greatly  with  reproduction,  must 
lessen  the  remaining  supply  very  rapidly. 

EARLY   USES. 

The  early  explorers  and  colonists  encountered  the  longleaf  pine 
practically  all  the  way  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Texas,  with  the 
exception  of  southern  Florida.  As  the  country  began  to  be  settled 
immediate  demand  upon  the  forests  was  made  for  building  material 
needed  in  an  agricultural  region.  A  hundred  years  ago  it  was 
claimed  that  75  per  cent  of  the  lumber  in  residences  in  the  longleaf- 
pine  region  was  of  this  wood.  In  many  cases  the  entire  house,  so 
far  as  it  was  made  of  wood,  was  of  this  material.  The  most  frequent 
exception  was  the  roof,  where  cypress  was  commonly  employed,  with 
occasional  roofs  of  red  cedar  and  southern  white  cedar.  In  some 
cases  shingles  of  pine  supplied  roof  material  also.  Barns,  sheds, 
stables,  and  all  farm  buildings  drew  enormous  supplies  from  the 
neighboring  longleaf-pine  forests,  and  the  inclosing  of  fields  and 
plantations  added  to  the  demand.  Pickets  for  garden  and  yard 
fences  were  sawed  from  the  wood,  and  post  and  plank  fences  were 
sometimes  constructed  wholly  of  it.  When  pine  posts  were  used  it 
was  customary  to  select  the  dead  timber  that  had  become  "  fat,"  a 
term  applied  to  wood  surcharged  with  resin.  It  was  claimed  that 
sometimes  timber  left  standing  after  it  was  dead  would  double  in 
weight,  merely  from  the  accumulation  of  resin  in  it ;  but  figures  show- 
ing an  increase  in  weight  so  large  as  that  should  be  accepted  with 
caution.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  fat  pine  posts  gave  long 
service,  which  led  to  extensive  use  of  that  class  of  timber.  Eail  fences 
were  common  in  early  plantation  days  in  the  South,  and  the  longleaf 
pine  was  split  for  rails  and  lasted  well. 

One  of  the  earliest  demands  upon  the  longleaf  pine  was  for  bridge 
material.  Public  highways  and  private  roads  depended  largely,  some- 


10  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

times  almost  wholly,  upon  it  when  streams  and  ravines  were  to  be 
crossed. 

Long-leaf  pine  contributed  to  the  machinery  used  on  southern 
plantations,  though  in  early  times  the  use  of  farm  machinery  was 
more  limited  than  at  present.  A  large  part  of  the  work  was  done 
by  hand  labor;  but  wagons  and  carts  were  indispensable,  and  the 
beds  were  of tener  made  of  pine  than  of  any  other  wood. 

The  old  Ramage  printing  press,  made  a  century  and  a  half  ago 
and  now  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  is  largely 
of  longleaf  pine. 

EXPORTS. 

The  exportation  of  building  material  from  the  longleaf-pine  region 
began  very  early,  and  the  lumber  for  that  purpose  was  sent  in  small 
sailing  vessels  to  Cuba  and  the  eastern  coast  of  Mexico  and  Central 
America.  It  was  preferred  in  many  cases  to  the  native  timber, 
because  it  was  comparatively  free  from  attack  by  ants,  which  in 
tropical  countries  frequently  destroy  houses  and  eat  away  bridge 
timbers. 

The  southern  pines  attained  to  considerable  importance  in  the  ex- 
port trade  soon  after  the  Revolution,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War  were  going  in  quantity  to  English  markets.  The  closing 
of  the  southern  ports  early  in  the  war  left  some  of  the  operators  and 
contractors  with  timbers  on  hand  which  they  had  expected  to  send 
abroad.  A  large  number  of  rafts  were  caught  in  the  Altamaha 
River  by  the  blockade,  and  these  the  owners  towed  to  places  of  con- 
cealment in  estuaries  and  bayous,  where  they  remained  unmolested 
until  the  war's  close. 

It  was  about  that  time  that  the  longleaf  pine  began  to  displace 
in  English  shipyards  the  pine  from  Memel  (a  port  on  the  Baltic 
Sea).1  It  found  place  in  heavy  construction  on  land,  as  well  as  in 
shipbuilding.  It  was  stronger  than  the  Memel  pine  and  could  be 
had  in  longer  pieces,  up  to  45,  50,  and  even  60  feet  in  length,  and 
14  inches  square,  free  from  sap.  A  favorite  use  for  such  timbers  in 
England  was  for  wharves  and  harbor  works,  as  well  as  for  supports 
for  roofs  and  galleries  in  churches  and  other  large  buildings.  Pave- 
ment was  made  of  it  for  shop  floors,  each  block  being  made  of  four 
pieces  fastened  together  with  dowels.  The  timber  in  England  has 
given  20  years'  service  in  damp  and  unfavorable  places,  but  has  not 
proved  so  satisfactory  in  South  Africa,  particularly  near  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  and  near  rivers,  where  the  climate  is  alternately  dry 
and  damp. 

In  the  export  of  lumber  at  the  present  time  from  the  United  States 
to  foreign  countries  the  southern  yellow  pines  are  not  listed  sepa- 

1  Timber,  J.  R.  Baterdeu,  London,  1908. 


LONGLEAF   PINE.  11 

rately,  and  it  is  not  practicable  to  determine  what  part  of  the  total 
lumber  exports  they  supply.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  a  billion 
and  a  half  feet  of  these  pines  go  yearly  to  foreign  countries,  the 
most  of  it  longleaf .  This  places  it  above  Douglas  fir,  its  next  nearest 
competitor,  as  an  export  wood.  The  pine  is  sent  in  large  quantities 
to  Mexico,  the  West  Indies,  Central  America,  the  Panama  Canal 
Zone,  South  America,  and  to  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent  of 
Europe,  as  well  as  to  many  other  parts  of  the  world. 

SHIPBUILDING. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  southern  shipyards  drew  supplies  from 
longleaf-pine  forests.  The  timber  was  sent  to  northern  yards  also, 
and  its  value  for  masts  was  quickly  recognized  after  the  southern 
forests  became  known.  It  is  heavier  than  white  pine,  and  to  some 
extent  its  weight  was  objectionable,  but  its  other  qualities  were  so 
much  in  its  favor  that  it  speedily  won  its  way.  Before  supplies 
began  to  be  drawn  from  the  South  the  Riga  and  Danzig  pines  from 
northern  Europe  furnished  masts  for  a  majority  of  European  ves- 
sels, but  in  a  few  decades  after  commerce  with  the  South  began 
the  longleaf  pine  had  distanced  its  competitors  in  that  trade.  For 
the  largest  masts,  however,  it  could  not  compete  with  the  New  Eng- 
land white  pine.  Spars,  yards,  and  other  timbers  employed  in  ship 
rigging  were  bountifully  supplied  by  longleaf  pine,  and  large  quan- 
tities of  sawed  planks  were  used. 

The  first  war  vessels  built  by  the  United  States  Government,  be- 
ginning about  1797,  used  longleaf  pine  to  some  extent,  though  the 
frames  and  other  parts  subjected  to  shock  and  strain  were  of  live 
oak.  The  six  vessels  forming  the  first  Federal  Navy  had  the  south- 
ern pine  in  them.  The  Constitution,  launched  at  Boston  in  1797, 
and  which  in  its  long  and  eventful  history  captured  16  ships,  still 
rides  at  anchor  at  Boston,  but  it  can  scarcely  be  called  the  same  ves- 
sel that  won  the  victories  nearlv  a  century  ago,  for  piece  by  piece  it 
has  been  rebuilt  until  practically  all  the  old  wood  has  been  replaced 
by  new.  However,  the  figurehead  that  ornamented  the  prow  of  the 
ship  when  it  first  sailed  remains,  though  it  shows  the  weathering 
effect  of  over  100  years  of  sunshine  and  storm.  It  is  of  longleaf 
pine — a  wood  which  in  this  instance  has  outlasted  all  that  were  asso- 
ciated with  it  in  the  building  of  the  ship. 

Boat  builders  in  all  eastern  and  southern  yards  of  the  United 
States  use  longleaf  pine.  It  serves  in  nearly  every  part  of  boat 
frames  and  planking,  in  large  craft  as  well  as  in  small. 

HEAVY   CONSTRUCTION. 

Only  one  other  timber  in  the  United  States  at  present  stands  on  an 
equal  footing  with  longleaf  pine  in  heavy  construction,  such  as 


12  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

beams,  girders,  sills,  sleepers,  joists,  trusses,  rafters,  columns,  and 
heavy  floors,  and  planking.  That  wood  is  Douglas  fir  of  the  Pacific 
coast.  It  has  been  said  that  lumber  dealers  do  not  always  distinguish 
between  longleaf,  shortleaf,  loblolly,  and  Cuban  pines,  but  longleaf 
is  the  most  important  of  the  group.  Its  strength,  stiffness,  freedom 
from  defects,  and  its  lasting  properties  fit  it  for  many  places  in 
heavy  construction.  The  demand  for  pieces  of  unusual  size  is  met 
to  a  large  extent  by  southern  mills  which  cut  this  species. 

RAILROAD    TIMBERS. 

In  1907  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  purchased  34,215,000 
ties  of  southern  pine.  In  1908,  largely  due  to  the  financial  depres- 
sion, the  number  fell  off  to  21,530,000,  and  decreased  to  21,385,000  in 
1909.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  proportion  was  of  longleaf,  but 
it  is  known  that  it  was  large.  The  cutting  of  ties  in  the  southern 
pine  forests  has  caused  much  waste.  It  has  been  estimated  that  not 
less  than  70  feet  of  lumber  are  sacrificed  to  procure  one  tie,  which,  at 
most,  contains  not  above  50  feet,  and  generally  nearer  40.  Ties  are 
usually  cut  from  young  trees. 

Builders  of  railroad  bridges  and  trestles  draw  a  large  part  of  their 
heavy  timbers  from  the  longleaf  forests.  The  wood  is  preeminently 
fitted  for  that  use.  It  may  be  had  in  long  pieces,  free  from  serious 
defects,  and  possesses  great  strength  and  stiffness.  In  addition  to 
that,  it  has  enduring  qualities  which  add  much  to  its  value. 

It  is  extensively  employed  in  car  building,  to  some  extent  for  pas- 
senger cars;  but  chiefly  for  freight.  It  is  used  for  siding,  lining,  roof- 
ing, flooring,  beams,  and  frames.  The  timber's  elasticity  is  its  chief 
value  in  car  building.  Sticks  free  from  defects  are  often  demanded 
10  inches  square  and  from  36  to  42  feet  long.  Elasticity  adds  value 
to  the  crosstie  also,  for  the  wood  must  yield  under  weight  and  strain 
and  quickly  recover  its  former  shape  and  position. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

Southern  pine  has  always  had  a  place  as  interior  finish  in  the 
South,  but  until  comparatively  recent  years  it  was  not  favored  for 
fine  work,  but  was  chiefly  confined  to  kitchens,  pantries,  back  stair- 
ways, and  similar  places.  It  was  nearly  always  finished  in  natural 
colors,  if  finished  at  all;  but  when  it  was  discovered  that  it  took 
stains  well  it  quickly  rose  to  importance  and  has  attained  wide  use. 
In  the  best  construction,  however,  it  has  never  reached  a  footing 
equal  to  oak,  chestnut,  and  birch.  Immense  quantities  are  made  into 
flooring,  and  manufacturers  of  window  and  door  frames  and 
of  sash  and  doors  draw  supplies  of  raw  material  liberally  from 
that  source.  It  finds  place  as  finish  for  kitchens,  halls,  libraries,  and 


LONGLEAF   PINE.  13 

sleeping  apartments.  It  is  made  into  stairs,  railing,  molding, 
spindles,  balusters,  and  newel  posts.  Church  and  schoolhouse  finish 
is  made  of  it,  and  it  has  extensive  use  in  the  manufacture  of  furni- 
ture, cabinets,  and  wardrobes.  Various  parts  of  machines  are  made 
of  it  in  southern  mills,  shops,  and  factories,  and  the  makers  of  farm 
machinery  and  appliances  use  it  in  many  ways  where  formerly  ash 
and  oak  were  the  only  woods  employed.  In  a  large  part  of  the  coun- 
try it  is  so  universally  used  that  there  are  but  few  places  of  impor- 
tance that  it  does  not  fill. 

Formerly  it  was  customary  for  large  contractors  to  specify  that 
the  timbers  supplied  should  not  be  "  bled,"  referring  to  the  prac- 
tice of  extracting  crude  turpentine  from  living  trees.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  the  wood  from  such  timber  was  inferior.  Railroad  com- 
panies frequently  excluded  such  stock.  Tests  by  the  Forest  Service 
some  years  ago  showed  that  "  bled  "  timber  is  not  reduced  in  strength. 
The  bleeding  does  greatly  increase  the  amount  of  resin  in  the  butt 
of  the  tree,  and  this  is  sometimes  found  objectionable.  Also,  the 
turpentining  of  the  tree  does  reduce  to  some  extent  the  quantity  of 
first-class  lumber  which  can  be  obtained.  . 

PAVING    BLOCKS. 

The  extensive  use  of  wooden  paving  blocks,  treated  with  pre- 
servatives to  retard  decay,  covers  a  period  of  only  a  few  years  in  this 
country,  and  longleaf  pine  has  been  the  principal  wood  so  used.  Be- 
fore the  necessity  for  wood  preservation  and  the  methods  of  bring- 
ing it  about  were  well  understood,  a  large  amount  of  wood  pavement 
was  laid  in  many  cities  of  this  country.  Of  this  untreated  wood  pave- 
ment there  was  probably  more  northern  white  cedar  from  the  Lake 
States  than  of  all  other  woods  combined.  The  unsatisfactory  use 
which  such  pavement  gave  led  to  its  abandonment,  and  treated 
\voods  came  in.  The  hard  southern  pines,  particularly  the  longleaf 
pine,  were  favored  by  many  cities,  and  in  1909  more  than  a  million 
square  yards  of  this  timber  received  treatment  for  use  as  paving 
blocks.  Some  use  of  it  was  made  long  before.  Between  1860  and 
18YO  Brooklyn  laid  pavement  of  this  wood  previously  dipped  in 
coal  tar.  The  average  life  of  the  blocks  under  traffic  in  that  city  was 
about  6  years. 

Treated  paving  blocks  of  the  southern  pines  have  replaced  other 
materials  to  a  considerable  extent  in  many  American  cities  and  have 
gained  some  foothold  in  European  cities.  In  this  country  they  have 
been  laid  in  New  York,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Indianap- 
olis, Chicago,  Minneapolis,  Duluth,  and  in  other  cities.  In  addi- 
tion, much  wooden  pavement  has  been  laid  between  car  tracks  in 
cities,  on  wharves  and  landings,  in  coal  yards,  on  bridges,  in  ware- 


14  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

houses,  foundries,  shops,  roundhouses,  breweries,  cellars,  bottling 
works,  and  in  many  situations  where  heavy  wear  must  be  sustained 
and  liability  to  decay  resisted. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Longleaf  pine  is  largely  employed  in  railroad  water  tanks,  towers, 
for  windmills,  and  receptacles  for  liquids  in  factories  and  mills. 
The  tank  itself  and  the  stand  on  which  it  is  placed  are  frequently  of 
this  wood,  but  in  tank  building  longleaf  pine  is  not  as  extensively 
used  as  cypress. 

Trunk  makers  use  many  woods  in  their  business,  and  longleaf  pine 
has  a  prominent  place,  though  its  weight  places  it  at  a  disadvantage 
when  competing  with  others. 

Excelsior  cutters  draw  upon  it  for  supplies,  but  it  has  no  superior- 
ity for  that  use  over  many  other  woods. 

A  small  quantity  of  longleaf  pine  is  manufactured  into  pulp,  the 
material  used  for  the  most  part  being  sawmill  waste.  At  certain 
plants  in  the  South  it  appears  that  the  process  of  making  paper  from 
sawmill  waste  is  becoming  established  on  a  successful  basis.  If  so, 
it  means  the  extension  of  the  pulp  industry  to  the  Southern  States, 
with  longleaf  pine  as  the  raw  material. 

The  long,  clear  timbers  cut  from  this  pine  are  well  adapted  to  the 
manufacture  of  wooden  pumps,  and  a  considerable  amount  is  so 
used. 

Elevator  builders  draAv  supplies  from  the  longleaf  lumber  yards 
of  the  South,  where  clear  stock  and  exceptional  lengths  may  be  had. 

NAVAL   STORES. 

Longleaf  pine  has  held  an  important  place  in  the  production  of 
naval  stores  since  the  development  of  the  country  began.  A  cen- 
tury ago  Michaux  listed  the  longleaf  pine's  products  as  "  wood  tur- 
pentine, scrapings,  spirits  of  turpentine,  rosin,  tar,  and  pitch."  He 
described  turpentine  as  the  raw  resin  that  exuded  from  the  wounds 
in  the  trees;  scrapings,  as  the  dried  substance  that  adhered  to  the 
wounded  surface;  spirits  of  turpentine,  as  the  product  passing  over 
in  distillation  of  turpentine ;  rosin,  the  residuum  of  distillation ;  tar, 
the  substance  obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  of  pine  wood; 
and  pitch,  the  product  obtained  by  boiling  the  tar.  Longleaf  pine 
has  been  and  still  is  nearly  the  entire  source  of  these  products. 

Immediately  after  settlements  began  on  the  Atlantic  coa-st  Great 
Britain  encouraged  the  development  of  the  naval-stores  industry. 
Her  ships  demanded  large  quantities,  and  the  supply  then  came  from 
the  Baltic  Provinces  and  from  Russia.  Monopoly,  it  was  claimed, 
raised  the  price,  and  in  time  of  war  there  was  danger  that  supplies 


LONGLEAF   PINE.  15 

would  be  cut  off.  For  that  reason  it  was  desirable  that  America 
should  become  a  producer  of  the  commodities  so  necessary  to  the 
maintenance  of  England's  position  upon  the  seas.  The  colonists  in 
New  England  had  scarcely  landed  before  they  were  encouraged  to 
look  into  the  possibility  of  developing  the  naval-stores  industry.  The 
same  was  true  in  Virginia.  Within  15  years  after  the  feeble  settle- 
ment had  planted  itself  at  Jamestown  a  report  was.  made  on  the 
possibilities  of  developing  the  tar  and  pitch  industries  in  the  region 
on  and  near  the  coast  of  Virginia.1  The  report  was  unfavorable,  for 
the  reason,  as  it  was  set  forth,  that  pines  were  too  much  dispersed  to 
make  the  manufacture  of  pitch  and  tar  profitable.  This  report  has 
been  construed  as  evidence  that  pine  was  much  scarcer  in  the  original 
forests  of  tidewater  Virginia  than  in  the  secondary  forests  which 
grew  afterwards.2  The  prevailing  pine  in  that  region  is  loblolly, 
which  readily  takes  possession  of  abandoned  fields. 

The  manufacture  of  naval  stores  began  on  a  small  scale  in  the  long- 
leaf  pine  region  and  grew  gradually.  Statistics  showing  the  prog- 
ress of  the  industry  are  fragmentary.  In  1704  the  shipments  of  tar 
to  England  from  the  Carolinas  amounted  to  400  barrels.  One  hun- 
dred years  later  the  annual  output  of  the  South  was  77,827  barrels. 
How  much  of  this  was  tar  and  how  much  was  rosin  and  other  prod- 
ucts is  not  shown.  The  shipments  went  to  Northern  States  and  to 
Europe.  In  the  North  the  article  was  employed  to  a  considerable 
extent  by  soap  manufacturers.  In  the  same  year  (1804)  19,526  gal- 
lons of  spirits  of  turpentine  were  shipped  from  North  Carolina.  In 
later  years  petroleum  was  substituted  for  spirits  of  turpentine  in 
many  arts  and  industries. 

The  value  of  the  naval  stores  produced  in  the  United  States  in 
1908,  chiefly  from  longleaf  pine,  was  $21,895,950.  Florida  was  the 
largest  producer.  At  one  time  North  Carolina  stood  first,  then  the 
first  place  went  to  Georgia,  and  later  to  Florida.  The  center  of  the 
industry  shifted  from  region  to  region  where  pine  was  most  conven- 
ient and  abundant.  In  early  years  the  turpentine  operators  destroyed 
forests  for  naval  stores  alone  and  made  no  use  of  the  wood.  They 
boxed  the  trees — that  is,  cut  deep  notches  in  the  base  of  the  trunk — 
and  collected  resin  year  by  year  for  a  time.  When  the  trees  could 
produce  no  longer  they  were  abandoned  to  fire  and  storms.  The 

1  Neill's  Virginia  Co.  of  London,  p.  283,  report  made  in  1622. 

2  An  inference  that  pine  was  plentiful  near  the  sea,  but  not  in  the  interior,  has  been 
drawn  from  a  paragraph  in  John  Oldmaxon's  British  Empire  in  America,  edited  by  Her- 
mann Moll,  London,  1708.     In  accounting  for  the  failure  of  grape  culture  in  Virginia,  he 
said  :  "  Fir  and  pine  trees,  with  which  the  country  abounds,  are  noxious  to  the  vine ; 
and  the  experiments  that  have  been  made  were  in  the  lowlands,  subject  to  the  pine,  and 
near  the  malignant  influence  of  the  salt  water."      (Vol.  1,  p.  306.)     Two  hundred  years 
ago,  and  about  the  same  time  that  Oldmaxon  wrote,  John  Lawson  traversed  the  uplands 
of  North  Carolina  for  a  distance  of  125  miles  and  noted  particularly  that  he  saw  no 
pine  trees,  but  when  he  had  proceeded  eastward  into  what  he  called  the  "lowestmost 
parts  "  he  encountered  an  abundance  of  pine. 


16  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

weakened  trunks  were  broken  and  fire  completed  the  ruin.  At  the 
present  time  less  wasteful  methods  are  employed.  The  lumber  is 
valuable  and  less  frequently  left  to  burn  or  decay.  Improved  meth- 
ods have  been  found  for  extracting  the  resin.  Cups  are  taking  the 
place  of  the  deep  boxing  that  once  was  everywhere  in  use.  Under 
the  new  system  of  working  the  product  is  better  and  more  abundant, 
and  the  trees  sustain  less  injury.  In  1908  about  11  per  cent  of  the 
turpentine  Was  produced  by  the  cup  method.  The  improved  proc- 
esses continue  to  grow  at  a  rapid  rate. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  longleaf  pine  forests  of  northern 
Alabama  were  denuded  years  ago  to  supply  charcoal  for  iron  fur- 
naces in  that  region.  A  similar  use  of  the  wood  has  been  made 
wherever  sufficient  market  has  existed  for  charcoal.  In  some  locali- 
ties refuse  wood  only  is  taken,  while  the  rest  goes  to  the  lumber 
operators. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

Several  billion  feet  of  yellow  pine  pass  through  dry  kilns  yearly, 
and  it  has  been  estimated  that  for  every  1,000  feet  entering  the  kiln 
a  gallon  of  turpentine  evaporates  and  is  wasted,  or  an  equivalent  of 
3  or  4  million  gallons  annually.  It  is  believed  that  the  expulsion  of 
nearly  all  the  turpentine  from  the  wood  is  practicable,  and  that 
little  or  none  of  it  need  be  wasted,  while  the  quality  of  the  lumber 
would  be  improved.  Turpentine  and  pine  oil  are  now  being  obtained 
from  longleaf  pine  mill  waste  at  a  number  of  southern  mills  by 
steam  distillation.  At  certain  mills  the  shredded  material  is  after- 
wards used  for  manufacturing  paper.  It  is  estimated  that  the  waste 
of  longleaf  pine  is  sufficient  to  supply  a  quantity  of  turpentine  equal 
to  that  now  produced  in  the  naval-stores  industry.  A  large  number 
of  plants  are  running  on  longleaf  pine  stumps  and  "  fat "  logs  by  the 
destructive  distillation  process.  The  chief  products  of  this  process 
are  turpentine,  pine  oil,  pyroligneous  acid,  charcoal,  and  tar.  In  cer- 
tain extraction  processes  the  turpentine,  pine  oil,  and  rosin  are  ob- 
tained. The  obtaining  of  such  products  from  longleaf  mill  waste  ap- 
pears to  be  on  the  threshold  of  rapid  increase. 

The  long  needles  of  this  pine  have  been  used  for  various  purposes. 
If  distilled  green,  an  oil  of  balsamic  odor  is  obtained,  closely  re- 
sembling spirits  of  turpentine.  By  the  distillation  of  the  wood 
spirits  of  turpentine  may  be  obtained,  the  yield  running  from  1  to  10 
gallons  per  cord.  Pine  wool  is  made  from  pine  needles  by  boiling 
them  in  a  strong  solution  of  alkali.  The  resulting  fiber  is  cleaned, 
carded,  and  made  into  fabrics  or  used  in  upholstering. 

One  of  the  materials  used  in  manufacturing  lilac  perfume  is  terpi- 
neol — made  from  turpentine.  The  manufacturers  of  synthetic  cam- 
phor employ  turpentine  in  the  process.  Pine  oil  has  its  largest  use 


SHORTLEAF   PINE.  17 

at  present  among  the  varnish  manufacturers,  but  there  is  a  possibility 
of  its  use  as  a  substitute  for  linseed  oil  in  the  manufacture  of  paints. 

SHOBTLEAF  PINE  (Pinus  echinata). 

PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 38  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.61  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.29  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 82  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,800  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
67  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,948,000  pounds  per^square 
inch,  or  97  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Heavy,  hard,  moderately  strong;  grain  rather  fine, 
even ;  annual  rings  generally  wide  near  the  heart,  followed  by  zone  of.  narrow 
rings;  suinrnerwood  broad,  often  occupying  half  the  width  of  the  -annual 
growth ;  resin  moderately  abundant,  especially  near  base  and  near  knots ;  resin 
passages  numerous,  medullary  rays  numerous,  conspicuous;  color,  orange  or 
lighter  yellow,  the  sapwood  nearly  white;  not  durable. 

Growth. — Height,  60  to  90  feet ;  diameter,  1£  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  commercial  range  of  shortleaf  pine  lies  principally  in  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Texas.  The  lumber  is  known  under  many  names  in  different 
localities,  among  them  being  yellow  pine,  spruce  pine,  bull  pine, 
shortschat  pine,  pitch  pine,  poor  pine,  shortleaved  yellow  pine,  rose- 
mary pine,  Virginia  yellow  pine,  North  Carolina  yellow  pine,  North 
Carolina  pine,  Carolina  pine,  slash  pine,  and  oldfield  pine. 

The  botanical  range  of  shortleaf  pine  is  much  more  extensive  than 
its  commercial  range.  In  many  regions  the  growth  is  scattered,  and 
only  a  few  trees  are  found  here  and  there.  Early  botanists  reported 
the  species  as  far  north  as  Albany,  N.  Y.,  but  it  long  ago  disappeared 
from  that  latitude,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  is  now  to  be  found  north 
of  central  Pennsylvania.  A  century  or  more  ago  lumbermen  cut 
large  quantities  of  shortleaf  pine  on  the  main  stream  and  tributaries 
of  the  Potomac  and  floated  the  logs  to  tidewater  at  Georgetown.  The 
operations  were  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  in  contiguous  parts  of  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania.  Shortleaf  pine  has  now  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  source  of  lumber  in  that  region.1 

Thirty  years  ago  the  stand  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  estimated 
approximately  at  95  billion  feet.  That  was  before  much  lumbering 
had  been  done  in  that  part  of  its  range.  The  largest  cut  of  short- 

1  It  is  noteworthy  that  Indians  who  roamed  through  the  Shenandoah  Valley  before  its 
settlement  by  white  people  called  the  Shenandoah  "  Pine  River,"  or,  as  the  name  was 
literally  translated  by  Heckwelder,  "  River  that  flows  past  '  spruce  pine.' "  (William  E. 
Connelley's  Memoirs  of  John  Heckwelder.) 

101500°— Bull.  99—11 2 


18  USES   OF   COMMEKCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

leaf  pine  now  comes  from  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Texas,  Arkansas, 
Louisiana,  and  Missouri.  Estimates  of  the  stand  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  would  be  hard  to  make,  because  the  trees  are  scattered  over 
200,000  square  miles,  with  dense  timber  growth  scarcely  anywhere. 

The  Commissioner  of  Corporations,  in  his  report  on  the  lumber 
industry  in  1911,  estimated  the  yellow-pine  supply  of  the  South  to  be 
384  billion  feet,  of  which  232  billion  feet  are  of  longleaf  and  152 
billion  feet  of  shortleaf  and  loblolly  combined. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  studied  the  shortleaf  pine's 
habit  of  growth  and  the  extent  of  its  natural  range  that  it  promises 
to  continue  one  of  the  important  timber  trees  of  the  South.  If  it 
fulfills  that  promise,  however,  it  will  be  when  better  care  has  been 
taken  of  it  than  has  been  shown  in  the  past.  It  has  been  exploited 
and  abandoned  to  periodic  forest  fires,  and  the  result  is  seen  in  a  thin 
stand  and  a  gradually  contracting  range.  It  possesses  one  advantage 
over  nearly  all  other  pines — the  power  to  send  up  sprouts  from 
stumps.  The  shortleaf  pine's  ability  to  send  up  sprouts  is  more  pro- 
nounced west  of  the  Mississippi  than  farther  east. 

EARLY   USES. 

The  custom  which  has  prevailed  since  early  times  of  sending  sev- 
eral species  of  pine  to  market  under  one  name  or  many  names  ren- 
ders it  impossible  to  determine  exactly  to  what  extent  shortleaf  was 
used  during  the  colonial  period  and  later.  It  is  known,  however, 
that  shortleaf  was  an  important  commodity  more  than  100  years 
ago.  In  fact,  there  is  contemporaneous  record  that  extensive  cut- 
ting had  depleted  the  supply  a  century  ago  along  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board. It  had  gone  to  foreign  countries,  particularly  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  at  home  it  was  a  standard  stock  in  shipyards  at  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Norfolk.  It  was  used  for  masts, 
spars,  yards,  beams,  planking,  and  interior  lining,  and  for  cabins 
and  decks.  The  wood  from  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  the  East- 
ern Shore  of  Maryland  was  generally  considered  finer  grained  and 
more  compact  than  that  grown  farther  south  and  back  from  the 
coast.  Little  or  none  is  now  cut  in  the  coastal  regions  which  once 
supplied  the  wood  so  highly  esteemed  for  its  excellent  qualities. 

Residences  and  farm  buildings  within  the  range  of  shortleaf  pine 
and  outside  that  of  longleaf  pine  were  largely  built  of  it.  It  was 
seldom,  however,  the  only  wood  used  for  that  purpose.  It  was  gen- 
erally the  floor  material,  the  frames  for  doors  and  windows,  and  fre- 
quently the  siding  and  ceiling.  Where  cypress  or  white  cedar  could 
be  had  for  shingles,  one  or  the  other  was  usually  employed,  but  in 
regions  remote  from  the  coast  neither  could  be  had,  and  in  that 
case  shingles  were  made  from  shortleaf  pine,  which  often  formed 
nine-tenths  of  the  wood  in  a  building.  Farm  fences  and  the  pickets 


SHORTLEAF  PINE.  19 

that  inclosed  gardens  and  truck  patches  were  of  this  pine  in  many 
instances.  The  heartwood  was  enduring,  but  the  sap  was  disposed 
to  decay  quickly  in  damp  situations. 

Shortleaf  pine  was  cut  for  fuel  by  the  early  residents  throughout 
its  range.  It  is  rich  in  resin  and  burns  brightly. 

The  high  prices  paid  for  naval  stores  during  the  colonial  period 
and  later  directed  attention  to  shortleaf  pine.  Some  development 
followed,  but  it  was  not  as  profitable  to  the  operator  as  longleaf  pine, 
because  the  trees  were  more  dispersed,  operations  more  expensive, 
and  the  yield  less.  John  Lawson,  writing  in  1714,  listed  pitch,  tar, 
rosin,  and  turpentine  as  products  of  shortleaf  pine  in  North  Carolina. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

The  uses  of  shortleaf  pine  are  as  varied  as  those  of  longleaf,  and 
the  two  go  together  for  many  purposes,  without  preference  or  preju- 
dice, but  there  are  differences  which  sometimes  lead  to  the  choice  of 
one  or  the  other  for  certain  special  uses.  Longleaf  is  considerably 
the  heavier,  though  lighter  in  ash.  It  is  also  stronger  and  more 
elastic;  consequently,  when  the  architect  desires  timber  to  sustain 
pressure  and  withstand  shocks,  he  decides  in  favor  of  longleaf;  but 
in  nearly  all  other  situations  shortleaf  serves  as  well,  and  sometimes 
its  lighter  weight  makes  it  more  desirable  than  the  other. 

Furniture  makers,  who  use  yellow  pine  in  considerable  amounts, 
find  shortleaf  an  admirable  wood.  It  is  worked  into  frames,  goes 
into  the  interior  of  couches,  tables,  stands,  and  desks,  and  in  the 
cheaper  grades  of  similar  articles  it  may  appear  as  the  outside  visible 
part.  The  grain  is  handsome  and  shows  well  in  natural  finish  or 
when  stained. 

Inside  and  outside  trim  for  houses  is  manufactured  from  short- 
leaf  pine.  It  is  widely  used  for  flooring  and  is  recommended  both 
by  appearance  and  because  of  its  wearing  qualities.  It  responds 
readily  to  oils,  wax,  and  other  floor  finishes  and  dressings.  It  an- 
swers equally  well  as  wainscoting  and  ceiling,  for  chairboards,  base- 
boards, brackets,  molding,  cornice,  roseblocks,  ornaments,  carved 
work,  spindles,  balusters,  railing,  stairs,  and  panels.  Window  frames 
and  frames  for  doors,  and  the  doors  themselves,  and  sash  are  largely 
manufactured  from  this  wood.  Plasterer's  lath  and  shingles  are 
products  of  shortleaf  pine  forests,  and  porch  columns  and  porch 
flooring  cause  further  demand  upon  the  supply.  Many  of  the  large 
lumber  mills  of  the  South,  particularly  in  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas,  advertise  shortleaf  pine  as  a  specialty,  and  are  producing  it 
in  great  quantities  and  in  many  forms. 

Excelsior  mills  find  the  wood  suitable  for  their  purposes,  and 
occasional  use  is  made  of  it  for  pulp.  Veneers  of  this  pine  enter 
largely  into  basket  and  box  manufacture.  Statistics  showing  the 


20  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

output  of  veneer  do  not  distinguish  between  different  species  of 
the  southern  yellow  pines,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  how 
much  of  the  total  belongs  to  shortleaf.  The  cut  in  1908  in  the  United 
States  classed  as  yellow  pine  was  42  million  feet  log  scale.  Eed  gum 
alone  exceeded  this  amount.  The  veneer  is  manufactured  into 
numerous  commodities,  among  them  berry  baskets,  fruit  baskets,  and 
vegetable  barrels,  boxes,  and  crates. 

Slack  coopers  draw  upon  shortleaf  for  a  large  part  of  their  ma- 
terial, but  again  statistics  do  not  show  the  actual  quantity  supplied 
by  this  species. 

The  manufacturers  of  machinery,  implements,  tools,  and  apparatus 
make  much  use  of  shortleaf  pine.  It  is  specially  valuable  as  wagon 
bottoms  and  cart  beds,  and  for  hoppers,  drawers,  boxes,  chutes,  and 
compartments  in  fanning  mills,  corn  shellers,  grain  drills,  thrashing 
machines,  reapers,  straw  cutters,  mowing  machines,  and  in  numerous 
other  labor-saving  machines  and  devices. 

During  200  years  it  has  held  its  place  as  material  for  ship  and 
boat  building,  not  only  along  the  coast  within  a  hundred  miles  or  so 
of  the  supply,  but  in  practically  all  ports  of  the  country  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  where  boat  building  is  carried  on  as  a  business. 
It  is  fit  wood  for  all  parts  of  vessels  from  the  frame  to  the  mast, 
from  rudder  to  prow.  It  is  worked  into  decking,  finish,  cabins,  lin- 
ing, sides,  railing,  ladders,  stairs,  ceiling,  seats,  and  nearly  every- 
thing else  of  wood  that  is  required  in  modern  boat  building. 

LOBLOLLY  PINE  (Pinus  tzeda). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 33.9  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.54. 

Ash. — 0.26  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 73  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 12,300  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
77  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,628,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  77  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Medium  heavy,  strong,  and  tough;  grain  coarse, 
even;  annual  rings  variable,  but  mostly  very  wide;  summerwood  broad,  resin 
more  abundant  than  in  shortleaf,  less  than  in  longleaf ;  resin  passages  numerous, 
not  prominent;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  heartwood  orange  yellow 
to  light  brown,  the  very  thick  sapwood  light  yellow  or  often  nearly  white ;  not 
durable,  but  takes  preservative  treatment  readily;  wood  of  the  rosemary  pine 
close  grained,  less  resinous,  lighter,  with  much  thinner  sap.. 

Growth.— Height,  70  to  120  feet ;  diameter,  2  to  4  feet 

SUPPLY. 

Loblolly  pine  occurs  commercially  in  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  Okla- 


LOBLOLLY  PINE.  21 

homa,  South  Carolina,  Texas,  and  Virginia,  and  is  known  under 
many  names,  among  them  old  field  pine,  longshucks,  black  slash  pine, 
frankincense  pine,  short-leaf  pine,  bull  pine,  Virginia  pine,  sap  pine, 
meadow  pine,  cornstalk  pine,  black  pine,  foxtail  pine,  Indian  pine, 
spruce  pine,  bastard  pine,  yellow  pine,  swamp  pine,  and  long-straw 
pine. 

Loblolly  lumber  which  now  reaches  market  is  largely  of  second 
growth  or  has  been  cut  on  land  where  it  formerly  grew  sparingly  or 
not  at  all.  It  quickly  takes  possession  of  abandoned  fields  or  tracts 
from  which  other  timber  has  been  cut,  and  it  increases  in  size  so 
rapidly  that,  where  conditions  are  favorable,  a  tree  50  years  old  may 
cut  three  IG-foot  sawlogs.  Millions  of  feet  of  lumber  have  been  cut 
from  ground  where  old  corn  rows  are  still  to  be  seen.  Though  the 
range  of  this  tree  has  probably  not  been  much  extended  since  the 
country  was  settled,  many  areas  and  tracts  have  been  partly  or  wholly 
taken  possession  of  by  it  within  that  time.  Perhaps  no  other  species 
in  the  United  States  at  present  yields  so  large  a  lumber  supply  from 
second-growth  forests.  Its  advance  into  abandoned  agricultural 
lands  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  was  noted  by  Michaux  more 
than  a  century  ago,  and  it  has  continued  until  the  present  time.  In 
some  localities  the  spread  of  loblolly  pine  was  exceptionally  rapid  im- 
mediately after  the  Civil  War,  due  to  the  abandonment  of  large  areas 
on  the  southern  plantations  which  before  had  been  cultivated.  Since 
that  time  the  loblolly  has  spread  from  the  primeval  forest  belts  in 
Texas  and  in  other  regions  west  of  the  Mississippi  into  the  prairies 
adjacent.  Grassland  which  was  treeless  within  the  memory  of  living 
man  has  come  up  to  pine  seedlings.  This  has  resulted  from  protec- 
tion against  fire.  When  the  grass  was  burned  yearly,  as  was  once  the 
rule,  seedling  pines  could  obtain  no  foothold,  and  the  original  forests 
bordering  the  prairies  did  well  if  they  held  the  ground  they  already 
had. 

The  amount  of  loblolly  pine  timber  in  this  country  is  not  known. 
It  covers  200,000  square  miles,  with  a  stand  ranging  from  little  or 
nothing  in  some  parts  to  as  high  as  20,000  feet  per  acre  or  more  in 
exceptional  cases.  Very  large  areas  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  range 
of  this  tree  are  covered  with  more  or  less  dense  stands  of  timber  in 
the  sapling  pole  stage  and  which  will  not  be  merchantable  before  the 
expiration  of  20,  30,  or  40  years.  Considering  the  stands  of  such 
young  timber,  it  is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that  the  area  of  fully  stocked 
land  is  greater  now  than  ever  before. 

Descriptions  of  the  forests  and  of  the  country's  resources  contained 
in  early  histories  and  reports  indicate  that  pine  was  not  plentiful  a 
short  distance  back  from  the  coast  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
when  the  region  was  first  explored.  Hardwoods  prevailed  in  many 
districts  where  pines  pushed  in  later.  However,  at  the  beginning  of 


22  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

the  nineteenth  century  the  majority  of  the  houses  were  of  pine,  which 
shows  that  if  the  wood  was  not  originally  abundant  in  the  interior 
it  spread  there  at  an  early  date.  Loblolly  pine  was  cut  by  charcoal 
burners  in  large  quantities,  and  was  highly  satisfactory  for  that 
purpose.1 

EARLY    USES. 

There  was  an  early  trade  in  masts  of  rosemary  pine  cut  in  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  and  sticks  of  large  dimensions  were  bought  and 
sold.  Rosemary  pine  was  mature,  well-grown  loblolly,  just  as  pump- 
kin pine  in  New  England  was  white  pine  of  large  size  and  with  ex- 
ceptionally fine  wood.  The  rosemary  pine,  as  it  was  known  and  un- 
derstood in  early  times,  is  very  rare  now.  The  regions  producing  it 
were  long  ago  lumbered  and  the  best  timber  culled  out. 

MANUFACTURE   AND    PRODUCTS. 

As  late  as  1856  timbers  of  loblolly  pine,  which  clearly  belonged  to 
the  best  class  and  were  cut  from  the  original  forests,  were  hewed  in 
North  Carolina  and  sent  through  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal  to  Nor- 
folk, whence  they  were  shipped  to  New  York.  One  cargo  that  was 
deemed  worthy  of  special  record  was  made  up  of  squared  timbers, 
with  little  or  no  sapwood  and  with  solid  contents  ranging  from  347 
to  537  cubic  feet  each. 

The  wood  parts  of  nearly  all  the  buildings  erected  for  the  New 
Orleans  World's  Exposition  were  of  loblolly  pine  cut  in  the  Gulf 
region. 

The  use  of  this  wood  was  greatly  extended  and  its  value  increased 
when  the  custom  of  seasoning  it  in  dry  kilns  became  common.  Prior 
to  that  time  loblolly  lumber  frequently  went  to  market  green  or  im- 
perfectly seasoned.  It  is  largely  sapwood,  especially  in  medium-sized 
trees,  and  the  water  in  it  made  it  susceptible  to  attack  by  fungus, 
which  gave  a  blue  color  to  the  wood  and  not  only  marred  its  appear- 
ance but  induced  deterioration.  Thorough  drying  in  well-con- 
structed kilns  removed  the  cause  for  that  objection,  and  loblolly 
speedily  won  its  way  on  its  merits.  Its  range  of  uses  is  wide;  it  is 
sold  in  all*  the  eastern  and  central  parts  of  the  United  States  and  is 
exported  to  Europe  and  Central  America. 

A  report  of  the  woods  used  in  Maryland  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses in  1909  gave  first  place  to  loblolly  pine.  In  quantity  it  ex- 
ceeded any  two  other  woods,  and  in  value  was  much  above  any  other. 
Its  nearest  competitor  in  value  was  wrhite  oak.  It  exceeded  all  other 

1  In  Robert  Beverlye's  History  of  Virginia,  written  200  years  ago,  he  referred  to  the 
promptness  with  which  timber  spread  into  open  ground.  There  is  little  doubt  that  he 
had  loblolly  pine  in  mind  when  he  said,  "  Wood  grows  at  every  man's  door  so  fast  that 
after  it  has  been  cut  down  it  will,  in  7  years'  time,  grow  up  again  from  seed  to  sub- 
stantial firewood,  and  in  18  or  20  years  it  will  come  to  be  very  good  board  timber." 


LOBLOLLY   PINE.  23 

woods  combined  (17  species  were  used)  in  the  manufacture  of  boxes 
and  crates,  and  was  second  in  cooperage  and  basket  making.  Among 
the  numerous  commodities  of  which  it  forms  part  of  the  material  or 
all  of  it  are  basket  bottoms,  vegetable  crates,  nail  kegs,  and  boxes  for 
fruits,  vegetables,  and  bottles.  It  has  a  regular  place  in  vehicle  man- 
ufacturing for  beds  and  bodies  for  wagons  and  carts,  and  in  boat 
building  for  masts,  siding,  decking,  lining,  ceiling,  cabins,  and  all 
kinds  of  finish  and  joiner  work  in  skiffs,  yachts,  motor  boats,  and 
sailing  craft.  It  is  widely  used  by  slack  coopers.  It  is  standard 
material  for  interior  finish  and  is  frequently  employed  on  an  equal 
footing  with  longleaf  pine,  which  it  closely  resembles  if  pieces  are 
carefully  selected  with  regard  to  grain.  It  takes  finish  well,  and  if 
painted,  as  it  usually  is  when  used  as  weatherboarding,  it  wears  well 
and  needs  repainting  only  at  long  intervals.  It  is  excellent  flooring 
lumber,  and  serves  for  practically  all  kinds  of  interior  finish — win- 
dow and  door  frames,  ceiling,  wainscoting,  molding,  railing,  balus- 
ters, brackets,  and  stair  work.  Cabinetmakers  work  it  into  many 
articles,  and  it  is  seen  in  wardrobes,  clothespresses,  shelving,  drawers, 
compartments,  and  boxes.  It  has  no  less  a  range  of  uses  in  furniture 
making,  going  for  the  most  part  into  frames  for  couches,  lounges, 
and  large  chairs. 

A  report  of  the  wood-using  industries  of  North  Carolina  in  1909 
showed  conditions  similar  to  those  in  Maryland,  in  regard  to  loblolly 
pine.  There  more  of  it  was  used  than  of  all  other  woods  combined, 
the  total  being  considerably  more  than  300  million  feet.  Practi- 
cally every  industry  of  the  State  that  employed  wood  in  manufac- 
turing gave  a  prominent  place  to  loblolly  pine.  Nearly  3  million 
feet  were  used  for  telephone  cross-arms,  it  being  practically  the  only 
wood  employed  for  that  purpose  in  the  region.  A  comparatively 
large  use  in  North  Carolina  is  for  tobacco  hogsheads.  Loblolly  and 
longleaf  pine  aggregate  98  per  cent  of  all  the  matched  flooring  manu- 
factured in  that  State,  but  as  the  two  woods  are  not  listed  separately 
in  the  statistics  the  proportion  of  each  is  unknown,  except  that  most 
of  it  was  loblolly. 

RAILROAD  TIMBERS. 

Railroad  companies  buy  large  quantities  of  loblolly  pine.  It  is  used 
in  car  construction,  chiefly  for  freight  cars.  It  is  employed  in  bridge 
and  trestle  work,  though  it  does  not  rank  with  longleaf  in  strength 
or  elasticity.  It  may  be  had  in  timbers  that  will  compare  in  size 
with  the  best  longleaf  pine.  Much  is  cut  for  crossties,  but  its  tend- 
ency to  speedy  decay  makes  it  unprofitable  for  that  purpose  unless 
it  has  been  given  preservative  treatment.  Loblolly  pine  is  among  the 
most  easily  treated  timbers  of  the  United  States. 


24  USES   OF   COMMEKCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Loblolly  mine  props  are  largely  used  in  the  mines  of  the  South 
and  of  Pennsylvania,  and  they  are  frequently  given  preservative 
treatment. 

FUEL. 

Few  pines,  if  any,  exceed  loblolly  in  the  extent  of  their  use  as  fuel. 
Immense  quantities  are  shipped  as  cordwood  for  domestic  purposes 
and  find  markets  in  towns  in  the  loblolly  region,  and  also  in  cities 
as  far  north  as  Philadelphia.  It  has  almost  as  wide  a  use  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  particularly  in  brick  burning,  pottery  kilns,  and 
by  bakers  who  demand  a  quick,  hot  fire. 

CUBAN  PINE  (Pinus  heterophylla). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 46.1  pounds  per  cubic  foot. 

Specific  gravity. — 0.75. 

Ash. — 0.26  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — -Equal  to  white  oak   (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture).— 16,400  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  102  per  cent  of  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 2,243,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  106  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Very  heavy,  hard,  strong,  and  tough;  grain  fine 
and  straight;  compact,  annual  rings  wide,  summerwood  very  broad,  occupying 
fully  half  width  of  the  annual  growth;  very  resinous,  conspicuous  resin  pas- 
sages numerous,  large ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  rather  prominent ;  color,  rich 
dark  orange,  the  sapwood  lighter,  often  nearly  white;  durable. 

Growth.— Height,  75  to  100  feet;  diameter,  1^  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  commercial  range  of  Cuban  pine  lies  in  Alabama^  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  and  South  Carolina;  and  among  the  names  by 
which  it  is  known  are  slash  pine,  swamp  pine,  bastard  pine,  meadow 
pine,  pitch  pine,  she  pitch  pine,  she  pine,  and  spruce  pine. 

The  Cuban  pine  made  a  late  entrance  into  the  lumber  supply  of 
this  country.  Long  after  nearly  all  other  trees  that  are  associated 
with  it  were  well  known,  this  tree  had  no  botanical  name,  and  those 
who  made  use  of  the  wood  generally  supposed  they  were  using  lob- 
lolly pine  or  longleaf  pine.  It  bears  some  resemblance  to  both,  but 
the  foliage  would  scarcely  be  mistaken  for  longleaf.  It  was  finally 
distinguished  as  a  separate  species,  and  upon  better  acquaintance  it 
was  found  to  possess  many  properties  which  give  it  value  at  present 
and  promise  it  a  place  in  this  country's  future  timber  supply.  It  does 
not  exist  in  large  quantity,  compared  with  some  of  the  other  pines. 
Its  range  is  limited  to  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  along  the  Gulf  to  Texas.  It  is  the  only  pine  in  southern  Florida, 


CUBAN   PINE.  25 

and  this  gives  it  special  importance  there.  It  is  a  Cuban  and  Mexi- 
can tree,  and  its  geographical  location  suggests  that  it  may  have 
entered  the  United  States  by  way  of  the  Florida  Peninsula. 

No  estimate  of  stand  has  been  made  for  this  pine.  It  is  dispersed, 
and  is  not  found  in  all  parts  of  its  geographical  range.  It  is  aggres- 
sive and,  possessing  the  ability  to  grow  in  the  shade,  it  is  pushing  its 
way  into  the  longleaf-pine  districts  and  crowding  that  species  out  of 
some  localities.  In  order  to  do  this  it  must  have  the  assistance  of 
man  or  fire.  Where  lumbermen  cut  the  longleaf  pine,  or  where  fire 
clears  the  ground,  the  Cuban  pine  gets  a  foothold  and  is  generally  able 
to  hold  it  against  all  comers.  It  grows  rapidly,  overtops  the  young 
trees  or  other  species,  and  shades  them  to  death.  Its  rapid  growth 
gives  it  an  advantage  over  most  of  its  associates  in  contending  against 
fire.  If  it  escapes  for  a  short  time  it  attains  size  sufficient  to  enable  it 
to  endure  scorching  that  proves  fatal  to  the  smaller  seedlings  of  other 
species.  It  reaches  commercial  size  much  earlier  in  life  than  the 
longleaf  pine,  and  this  adds  a  value  to  it.  Trees  40  years  old  produce 
turpentine,  and  before  they  are  much  older  they  attain  sizes  fitting 
them  for  lumber. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

The  fact  that  the  Cuban  pine  has  gone  to  market  with  longleaf 
and  loblolly  without  any  distinction  being  made  indicates  that  its 
range  of  uses  is,  or  may  be  made,  as  wide  as  theirs.  It  is  stronger 
than  either,  and  has  greater  elasticity.  Its  wood  resembles  loblolly 
more  than  longleaf,  because  it  is  of  rapid  growth  and  has  wide 
annual  rings.  It  was  long  ago  used  for  shipbuilding,  but  those  who 
used  it  supposed  it  to  be  loblolly  pine.  Though  employed  in  boat 
yards  for  a  number  of  purposes,  the  largest  use  was  for  masts  and 
spars.  It  has  a  place  among  interior  finish  materials  and  is  manu- 
factured into  door  and  window  frames,  sash,  wainscoting,  stair  work, 
molding,  ceiling,  and  flooring.  It  is  employed  for  general  construc- 
tion purposes,  including  siding,  porch  posts,  balusters,  and  railing. 
It  meets  all  the  general  demands  upon  yellow  pine  in  furniture 
making,  agricultural  machinery,  farm  timbers,  and  bridge  building. 
Car  shops  employ  it  for  beams,  frames,  lining,  siding,  ceiling,  and 
roofing  for  freight  cars,  and  it  ranks  high  among  the  pines  as  a 
crosstie  wood,  and  much  of  it  is  bought  for  that  purpose.  Its  rapid 
growth  is  a  factor  of  value,  because  young  trees  quickly  reach  the 
required  size.  This  pine  grows  much  to  sap.  Young  trees  are  more 
than  half  sapwood,  but  in  old  trees  the  heartwood  has  the  larger 
place.  The  wood  yields  readily  to  preservative  treatment,  and  its 
period  of  service  is  greatly  lengthened,  especially  when  made  into 
ties  and  laid  in  damp  situations. 


26  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  Cuban  pine  will  hold  an  important  place 
in  the  future  supply  of  naval  stores.  Its  ample  yield,  the  compara- 
tively short  period  required  for  trees  to  attain  the  necessary  size, 
and  the  vigor  with  which  they  spread  to  new  ground  and  maintain 
their  hold  upon  it,  indicate  that  the  species  will  figure  prominently 
in  future  operations  in  the  South. 

POND  PINE   (Pinus  serotina). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 49.5  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.79    (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.17  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 107  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 16,300  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
101  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,670,000  pounds  per  square 
inch,  or  79  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Very  heavy,  strong,  brittle,  coarse  grained,  com- 
pact ;  summerwood  broad,  forming  fully  one-half  the  annual  ring ;  very  resin- 
ous; dark  colored,  conspicuous;  resin  passages  few,  large;  medullary  rays  nu- 
merous, obscure;  color,  dark  orange,  the  thick  sapwood  pale  yellow. 

Growth. — Diameter,  18  to  27  inches,  in  typical  stands,  but  the  trees  are  fre- 
quently small ;  height,  35  to  75  feet  in  typical  stands. 

SUPPLY. 

This  tree  is  often  called  marsh  pine  by  lumbermen,  and  is  also 
known  as  meadow  pine,  loblolly  pine,  spruce  pine,  bastard  pine,  and 
bull  pine.  Its  range  is  restricted  to  the  region  near  the  coast,  from 
Albemarle  Sound  in  North  Carolina  to  the  head  of  St.  Johns  River, 
Fla.  It  appears  also  on  the  west  coast  of  Florida,  and  ranges  near 
the  coast  westward  to  the  vicinity  of  Pensacola.  Estimates  of  quan- 
tity place  it  much  below  the  pines  with  which  it  is  associated,  which 
are  longleaf,  loblolly,  and  Cuban.  Pure,  dense  stands  of  small  area 
are  frequently  found,  but  it  also  grows  with  other  species  on  low, 
poorly  drained  soils.  Sometimes  it  takes  possession  of  ground  so 
poor  and  damp  that  other  trees  compete  with  it  feebly  or  not  at  all. 
It  does  not  invade  the  dry,  sandy  tracts  where  longleaf  pine  flour- 
ishes. It  is  a  waste-place  tree,  and  contents  itself  with  sandy,  wet 
tracts  where  it  is  comparatively  free  from  crowding.  In  late  years, 
however,  it  has  shown  a  tendency  to  extend  its  range.  It  is  usually 
looked  upon  as  an  abundant  seeder,  but  careful  observation  modifies 
this  view.  Trees  are  generally  full  of  cones,  but  the  crops  of  several 
years  hang  to  the  branches,  and  the  actual  quantity  of  seeds  dis- 
persed in  a  single  season  is  much  smaller  than  the  abundance  of 
cones  would  indicate.  The  seeds  are  small  and  their  wings  are  of 
ample  size  to  carry  them  considerable  distances,  for  which  reason 


SPRUCE   PINE.  27 

the  species'  power  of  reproduction  is  sufficient  to  maintain  a  foot- 
hold and  to  extend  it  when  conditions  are  favorable.  Its  rate  of 
growth  is  not  much  less  than  that  of  loblolly  pine,  when  soil,  light, 
and  drainage  are  just  right;  but  it  is  unable  to  extend  its  range  as 
its  associate  pines  do,  and  for  that  reason  there  is  little  prospect  that 
the  pond  pine  will  ever  much  increase  its  commercial  importance. 
When  crowded  in  close  stands  it  clears  itself  of  branches  and  makes 
a  trunk  suited  for  the  sawmill,  but  the  amount  of  sap  wood  is  ex- 
cessive, surpassing  loblolly  pine  in  that  respect. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

Pond  pine  has  been  cut,  sawed,  and  sold  as  loblolly  in  all  parts  of 
its  range.  Lumbermen  often  do  not  recognize  the  difference.  The 
growing  trees  look  much  alike,  and,  except  for  the  cones,  one  may 
be  readily  mistaken  for  the  other.  The  wood  of  the  two  species  bears 
close  resemblance  and  is  difficult  to  distinguish.  Pond  pine  lumber 
has  given  good  service  as  planing-mill  output,  such  as  flooring,  ceil- 
ing, and  interior  finish.  It  has  gone  to  practically  all  the  markets 
where  loblolly  has  gone,  though  in  less  quantity.  In  the  region  where 
it  grows  it  has  been  used  since  the  settlement  of  the  country  as  a 
plantation  timber,  especially  for  fencing  about  rice  fields  and  on  the 
islands  and  near  the  coast,  where  Sea  Island  cotton  is  grown.  It  does 
not  last  well  in  contact  with  the  ground,  but  within  limited  areas  its 
abundance  has  made  it  the  most  economical  wood  for  certain  pur- 
poses. That  part  of  the  cut  which  has  reached  the  manufacturing 
cities  has  answered  the  purposes  of  cheap  furniture,  particularly  for 
couches. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

Pond  pine  was  formerly  not  considered  by  turpentine  operators, 
but  when  the  abundance  of  longleaf  pine  near  the  coast  began  to  fail 
operators  experimented  with  this  species  and  found  it  of  consider- 
able value,  but  not  equal  to  longleaf.  The  quality  of  the  product  is 
satisfactory,  but  the  quantity  per  tree  is  smaller,  and  it  costs  more  to 
get  it.  The  streak  or  wound  in  the  bark  which  produces  the  resin 
must  be  renewed  oftener,  and  the  annual  period  of  production  is 
shorter  than  for  longleaf.  It  is  claimed,  further,  that  the  tree  sooner 
succumbs  to  the  injury  from  tapping. 

SPRUCE  PINE  (Pinus  glabra). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood.— 24.5  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 
Specific  gravity. — 0.39  (Sargent). 
Ash. — 0.45  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 
Fuel  value. — 53  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 


28  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 6,900  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
43  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 637,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  30  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  weak,  brittle;  grain  coarse;  summer- 
wood  narrow,  not  resinous ;  resin  passages  few,  not  large ;  medullary  rays 
numerous,  obscure;  color  light  brown,  the  thick  sapwood  nearly  white;  not 
durable  in  contact  with  the  ground. 

Growth. — Height,  75  to  100  feet ;  diameter,  1$  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY  AND   USES. 

Spruce  pine  is  of  minor  importance,  and  apparently  will  remain 
so.  This  is  due  to  scarcity  and  not  to  lack  of  value  in  the  wood  itself. 
It  is  softest  of  the  southern  pines  and  has  been  compared  with  white 
pine,  and  in  some  localities  is  known  by  that  name.  It  is  also  known 
as  cedar  pine,  poor  pine,  lowland  spruce,  and  Walter's  pine.  The 
last  name  is  in  honor  of  its  discoverer,  who  first  described  the  tree 
in  1788.  For  seventy-odd  years  after  that  it  was  not  recognized  by 
any  botanist,  though  the  younger  Michaux  and  others  passed  through 
the  region  where  it  grows.  It  is  found  near  the  coast  of  Soutli  Caro- 
lina and  in  restricted  regions  of  Florida,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana. 
It  nowhere  forms  pure  forests,  except  in  a  few  localities  where  second 
growth  has  taken  possession  of  abandoned  fields  and  in  openings 
caused  by  timber  cuttings.  It  is  best  developed  in  northwestern 
Florida,  where  trees  reach  maturity  in  about  75  years.  Soon  after 
that  period  the  timber  is  apt  to  deteriorate  through  decay  at  the  base 
and  red  heart  at  the  top. 

Though  the  wood  is  soft  and  has  been  compared  in  that  respect 
with  wyhite  pine,  it  resembles  loblolly  in  appearance.  The  sapwood 
is  thick,  sometimes  constituting  three-fourths  of  the  trunk  of  trees 
75  years  old.  The  wood  shrinks  about  10  per  cent  of  its  bulk  in 
seasoning.  Its  fuel  value  is  lower  than  the  other  southern  pines,  on 
account  of  its  lack  of  resin.  The  want  of  resin  excludes  this  tree 
from  the  list  of  pines  valuable  for  naval  stores  and  confines  its  value 
to  its  use  as  lumber  only.  A  little  of  it  is  cut  wherever  mill  opera- 
tions are  in  progress  within  its  range,  but  the  lumber  in  the  market  is 
seldom  distinguished  from  other  pines  that  go  with  it. 

SAND  PINE  (Pinus  clausa). 
PHYSICAL    PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 34.75  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent) 
Specific  gravity.— 0.56  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.31  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 
Fuel  value. — 74  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 7,000  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
43  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 


SCRUB   PINE.  29 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 791,000  pounds  to  the  square 
inch,  or  37  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  medium  heavy,  soft,  not  strong,  brittle ;  sum- 
merwood  narrow  and  very  resinous;  resin  passages  numerous,  prominent; 
medullary  rays  numerous,  thin;  color,  light  orange,  or  yellow;  the  thick  sap- 
wood  ivory  white. 

Growth. — Best  developed  trees  attain  a  height  of  60  to  75  feet  and  rarely 
exceed  2  feet  in  diameter. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  sand  pine  is  restricted  in  range  and  is  usually  small  in  size. 
A  little  of  it  is  cut  for  fuel  for  local  use  about  plantations,  but  for 
years  it  has  given  some  service  as  masts  for  small  vessels  that  fit  out 
on  the  Gulf  coast  near  where  it  grows.  It  is  reported  from  only  two 
States — northern  Florida  and  southern  Alabama.  There  is  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  sand  pine  will  ever  become  important.  It  with- 
draws itself  to  sandy  dunes  and  barren  ridges,  where  it  frequently 
does  not  attain  a  height  above  30  feet. 

SCRUB  PINE  (Pinus  virginiana). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 33.19  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.5309  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.3  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 71  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 9,200  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
57  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 766,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  36  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Medium  light,  soft,  not  strong,  brittle;  wide- 
ringed,  compact ;  grain  fine  and  even ;  summerwood  narrow,  very  resinous ; 
resin  passages  few,  not  prominent ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  thin ;  color,  light 
orange,  the  thick  sapwood  nearly  white ;  not  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Growth. — Height,  50  to  90  feet;  diameter,  1  to  2  feet;  in  some  parts  of  its 
range  it  seldom  attains  to  that  size. 

SUPPLY. 

Scrub  pine  is  not  an  important  timber  tree  in  either  quality  or 
quantity.  It  is  known  as  Jersey  pine,  shortshucks,  shortschat,  spruce 
pine,  shortleaved  pine,  cedar  pine,  river  pine,  nigger  pine,  and  New 
Jersey  pine,  and  is  found  in  a  region  embracing  perhaps  100,000 
square  miles  in  Alabama,  Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland.  North 
Carolina,  New  Jersey,  Tennessee,  and  Virginia.  In  many  parts  of  its 
range  the  trees  are  small  and  few.  In  other  portions,  however,  the 
growth  is  heavy  and  the  trees  large  enough  for  some  of  the  common 
and  cheap  grades  of  lumber.  Estimates  of  the  total  available  quan- 
tity have  not  been  made.  In  many  localities  it  is  regarded  as  an 
encumbrance  rather  than  an  asset,  yet  that  estimate  of  the  tree's 


30  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

value  and  importance  does  not  do  it  justice.  In  1909,  in  the  State  of 
Maryland  alone,  17,000,000  feet  of  this  lumber  were  put  to  use,  and 
its  value  at  the  box  factories  where  it  was  manufactured  was  $173,000. 
In  quantity  it  stood  fifth  in  the  State,  being  surpassed  by  loblolly 
pine,  longleaf  pine,  white  oak,  and  cypress,  while  48  woods  were  below 
it  in  quantity.  No  statistics  have  been  compiled  to  show  how  much  of 
this  wood  is  cut  and  used  in  other  States,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  Maryland  uses  more  than  New  Jersey  or  Virginia,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  considerable  quantities  are  cut  in  many  parts  of 
its  range.  Though  the  annual  cut  of  all  woods  in  Maryland  amounts 
to  about  450,000,000  board  feet,  only  one  species,  loblolly  pine,  ex- 
ceeds scrub  pine  in  quantity.  It  has  not  sprung  into  use  in  recent 
years,  but  has  been  of  value  for  generations  and  for  many  purposes. 
It  is  known  that  the  stand  wras  considerable  in  New  Jersey  long  be- 
fore the  Revolution,  and  that  tar  makers  cut  large  amounts  of  it  in 
that  State,  as  well  as  in  Delaware,  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Mary- 
land, and  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  Pennsylvania.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  century  scrub  pine  seemed  to  .be  gaining  in 
area  in  New  Jersey,  and  was  spreading  into  the  open  ground.  The 
species  is  best  developed  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  Its 
growth  is  rapid,  and  it  quickly  takes  possession  of  abandoned  farm 
land,  forming  dense  stands.  These  reach  early  maturity,  and  then 
give  way  to  hardwoods,  unless  the  entire  stand  is  cut  down,  since  it 
can  not  reproduce  in  the  shade. 

USES. 

The  earliest  use  reported  for  scrub  pine  was  in  tar  making  in  New 
Jersey  prior  to  1750.  In  certain  parts  of  its  range,  particularly  in 
Kentucky,  it  is  still  employed  to  a  small  extent  by  tar  makers.  In 
Indiana  it  is  manufactured  into  pump  legs  and  water  pipes.  It  is 
widely  used  for  fencing,  though  not  in  large  quantities.  So  far  as 
available  statistics  indicate,  the  two  most  important  demands  upon 
scrub  pine  come  from  box  makers  and  cordwood  cutters.  The  box 
and  crate  industry  in  Maryland  in  1909  took  the  whole  cut  in  that 
State,  besides  several  million  feet  shipped  from  Virginia.  The  boxes 
were  of  many  kinds,  including  those  for  fruit,  vegetables,  fish,  oysters, 
and  canned  goods  of  many  kinds.  The  logs  that  go  to  the  mills  are 
small  and  generally  knotty.  They  are  ripped  through  and  through 
and  the  boards  are  afterwards  run  through  edgers.  This  tree  is  also 
cut  to  a  considerable  extent  for  pulp.  The  pulp  mills  of  southern 
Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  employ  rather  large  quantities, 
obtaining  the  supply  mainly  from  Virginia  and  Maryland. 

A  large  demand  for  cordwood  is  met  by  this  pine.  In  fuel  value 
it  ranks  below  longleaf,  shortleaf,  Cuban,  and  loblolly  pines,  but  it 
finds  ready  market  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  to  which  it  is  shipped. 


PITCH   PINE.  31 

TABLE  MOUNTAIN  PINE  (Pinus  pungens). 
PHYSICAL,  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 30.75  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity,— 0 .49  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.27  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  ( Sargent ) . 

Fuel  value. — 66  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,000  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
62  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,159,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  55  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Property  and  qualities. — Wood  medium  light,  soft,  strong,  tough,  compact; 
grain  rather  coarse ;  summerwood  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous ;  resin  passages 
numerous,  large;  medullary  rays  numerous,  prominent;  color  light  brown,  the 
thick  sapwood  nearly  white;  not  durable  in  the  ground. 

Growth.— Height,  40  to  65  feet ;  diameter,  18  to  40  inches. 

SUPPLY   AND    USES. 

Except  in  a  few  localities  the  table  mountain  pine  is  not  abundant, 
though  its  range  includes  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  District 
of  Columbia,  West  Virginia,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Georgia, 
and  North  Carolina.  It  reaches  its  best  development  among  the  high 
mountains  of  eastern  Tennessee,  where  on  rocky  ledges  it  sometimes  is 
the  prevailing  forest  tree,  and  in  some  parts  of  Pennsylvania  it  is 
rather  plentiful.  It  is  known  also  as  prickly  pine,  hickory  pine,  and 
southern  mountain  pine.  The  timber  is  cut  in  all  parts  of  its  range, 
but  is  nowhere  an  important  commodity.  The  largest  recorded  utili- 
zation of  it  has  been  in  Pennsylvania,  where  considerable  quantities 
have  been  made  into  charcoal.  A  few  logs  are  sawed  into  lumber, 
which  is  never  distinguished  from  other  pines  in  the  market.  Some 
of  it  is  cut  for  cordwood  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  but  its  fuel 
value  is  below  that  of  loblolly,  pitch,  or  scrub  pine.  There  is  no 
reason  to  expect  that  the  tree  will  ever  attain  greater  importance  than 
it  now  has. 

PITCH  PINE  (Pinus  rigida). 

PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 32  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.51   (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.23  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 70  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,300  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
64  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 838,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  39  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Medium  light  and  soft,  strong,  brittle,  grain  fine, 
uneven,  and  straight ;  annual  rings  rather  wide ;  summerwood  broad  and  dis- 
tinct, very  resinous;  conspicuous  resin  passages  numerous,  large;  medullary 


32  USES  OF  COMMEKCIAL  WOODS  OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

rays  few  but  prominent ;  color  light  brown  or  red,  the  thick  sapwood  yellow  or 
often  nearly  white,  not  very  easily  worked,  due  to  difference  in  hardness 
between  spring  and  summer  wood;  fairly  durable  where  used  in  contact  with 
the  earth. 

Growth. — Height,  40  to  80  feet ;  diameter,  1£  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  botanical  range  of  pitch  pine  covers  half  a  million  square 
miles,  but  its  commercial  range  is  much  less.  It  is  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity for  use  in  Delaware,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Caro- 
lina, Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  Vir- 
ginia, and  West  Virginia.  Among  the  different  names  by  which  it 
is  known  are  longleaved  pine,  longschat  pine,  hard  pine,  yellow  pine, 
black  pine,  black  Norway  pine,  rigid  pine,  and  sap  pine. 

No  census  of  standing  pitch  pine  in  the  United  States  has  been 
taken,  and  the  amount  is  unknown.  No  extensive  forests  exist,  but 
it  is  dispersed  widely,  with  small  tracts  of  fairly  dense  stand.  An 
average  stand  of  100  feet  per  acre  would  be  a  liberal  estimate  for  an 
area  of  100,000  square  miles.  The  quantity  used  in  Maryland  in 
1909  was  about  625,000  feet,  reported  by  manufacturers,  and  in 
Massachusetts  about  887,000  feet. 

The  pitch  pine  is  one  of  the  trees  which  maintains  its  place  in  the 
forests  in  the  face  of  adversity.  It  must  have  light  or  it  can  not 
grow;  and  in  order  to  secure  light  it  retreats  to  poor  tracts  and 
sterile  ridges  where  few  other  species  can  exist.  It  meets  poor  suc- 
cess when  it  endeavors  to  extend  its  range  into  areas  where  other 
trees  can  overtop  it.  If  ability  to  grow  on  poor  land  wrere  the  only 
factor  in  its  favor,  its  struggle  against  adversity  would  end  in  failure. 
Its  resistance  to  fire,  however,  is  remarkable,  and  its  seedlings  fre- 
quently survive  when  all  others  are  killed.  On  a  certain  tract  it 
was  found  that  fire  killed  66  white  pines  to  1  pitch  pine  where  size, 
number,  and  situation  of  the  two  species  were  similar.  It  has  an 
advantage  also  in  scattering  its  seeds,  which  are  light  and  may  be 
carried  considerable  distances  by  the  wind,  and  which  are  released 
from  the  cones  only  in  dry  weather. 

It  is  not  probable  that  pitch  pine  will  ever  be  extensively  planted 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  timber,  for  many  other  species  grow 
more  rapidly  and  promise  better  returns;  but  in  certain  localities, 
such  as  poor  ridges  and  sandy  tracts,  it  may  pay  to  grow  the  tree* 

EARLY    USES. 

Pitch  pine  supplied  many  needs  of  the  early  settlers,  though  in  but 
few  localities  could  it  properly  be  classed  as  the  most  important  tree. 
Over^wide  regions  it  was  the  chief  source  of  tar,  and  it  was  not 


PITCH  PINE.  33 

unusual  for  each  farmer  to  manufacture  what  he  needed.  Such 
manufacture  was  necessarily  on  a  small  scale  and  by  crude  methods. 
The  tree's  resin  accumulates  at  the  base  of  the  branches,  and  the 
rural  tar  makers  ordinarily  made  use  of  knots  in  preference  to  the 
clear  wood  of  the  trunk.  Though  the  method  used  was  a  crude  and 
simple  process  of  destructive  distillation,  it  produced  a  grade  of  tar 
which  answered  most  purposes  well.  The  tar's  chief  use  among 
country  people  in  early  times  was  one  which  has  now  practically 
passed  away.  It  was  the  best  axle  grease  for  wagons  that  could  then 
be  had,  and  the  wagon  without  its  tar  bucket  and  its  tar  paddle, 
swinging  from  the  rear  axle,  was  seldom  seen. 

By  subjecting  the  pitch-pine  knots  to  a  different  treatment — a  sort 
of  steam  distillation — shoemaker's  wax  was  produced.  This  com- 
modity was  widely  manufactured,  but  usually  in  very  small  quan- 
tities. The  shoemaker  was  in  every  community  and  in  most  houses. 
The  linen  thread  with  which  the  home-tanned  leather  was  sewed  was 
rubbed  with  wax,  and  was  then  called  "  wax  ends." 

Lampblack  Avas  made  of  pitch  pine  long  before  it  was  made  from 
natural  gas,  and  the  wood  was  one  of  the  earliest  put  to  use  by  char- 
coal burners.  In  the  manufacture  of  charcoal  the  tar  and  other  by- 
products were  wasted,  as  no  apparatus  was  devised  to  save  them. 
The  charcoal  was  in  demand  for  blacksmith  shops  and  iron  furnaces. 

Pitch  pine  had  another  extensive  use  in  early  times,  which  might 
seem  unimportant  when  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pres- 
ent. It  was  a  substitute  for  the  candle  and  the  lamp  at  a  time  and 
in  places  where  it  was  frequently  impossible  to  obtain  either.  Splin- 
ters that  burned  with  a  steady  flame  afforded  light  in  many  a  frontier 
cabin.  The  gathering  of  pine  knots  was  as  carefully  attended  to  as 
the  cutting  of  the  winter's  wood  or  the  cribbing  of  the  corn  crop. 
The  knots  being  rich  in  resin  remained  sound  long  after  the  pros- 
trate trunk  lying  in  the  woods  had  decayed.  That  made  the  gather- 
ing of  the  knots  an  easy  task.  It  was  frequently  done  by  driving 
an  ox  sled  through  the  woods  in  the  fall,  where  pitch  pines  had  fallen 
and  decayed,  and  picking  up  the  knots  that  lay  in  rows  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground. 

Fagots,  split  from  the  bodywood  of  this  pine,  in  early  times  and 
in  regions  where  the  trees  grew  often  served  for  out-of-door  light. 
Torches  made  of  small  split  pieces  bound  together  in  bundles  4  or  5 
feet  long  with  hickory  or  yellow  birch  withes  lighted  the  way  on 
night  journeys  through  the  woods.  Men  who  speared  fish  at  night 
in  the  rivers  and  creeks  had  nothing  better  than  the  light  from  the 
pitch-pine  torch.  Hunters  who  went  by  boats  along  the  shores  of 
lakes  and  rivers  "  shined  the  eyes  "  of  deer  by  that  method. 
101500°— Bull.  99—11 3 


34  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

FARM   TIMBER   AND   BOAT  BUILDING. 

The  builders  of  water  mills  in  early  times  found  that  pitch  pine 
was  peculiarly  well  suited  for  wheels  that  worked  in  damp  situations, 
and  it  was  made  into  overshot,  undershot,  breast,  and  flutter  wheels, 
being  used  for  both  buckets  and  spokes.  Its  principal  virtue  was  its 
resistance  to  decay.  For  the  same  reason,  timbers  largely  of  heart- 
wood  were  hewed  for  barn  sills  and  sleepers  and  as  foundation  logs 
for  various  buildings.  The  wood  was  made  into  fences  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  especially  board  fences  with  locust  posts.  It  is 
occasionally  so  used  still.  Along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  boat  makers 
drew  supplies  from  pitch  pine  at  a  time  when  other  woods  were 
abundant ;  but  the  amount  so  used-  was  not  large  in  comparison  with 
white  pine,  oak,  and  red  and  white  cedar.  In  recent  years  consider- 
able quantities  of  pitch  pine  have  been  used  for  boat  building.  It 
was  in  early  use  for  ship  pumps,  the  heartwood  only  being  employed 
for  that  purpose.  It  was  available  in  long  stock,  and,  as  with  Norway 
pine,  was  liked  for  that  reason  by  pump  makers. 

MANUFACTURING. 

Bridge  timbers  and  other  beams  for  heavy  construction  are  cut 
from  pitch  pine,  though  it  is  seldom  highly  recommended  for  uses 
which  demand  stiffness.  Its  botanical  name,  Pinus  rigida,  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  wood's  chief  characteristic  is  stiffness,  but 
the  reference  is  to  the  leaves  and  not  to  the  wood.  In  fact,  in  com- 
parison with  the  pines,  its  elasticity  is  in  the  lowest  rank,  and  not 
half  that  of  longleaf.  Some  use  has  been  made  of  it  for  railway 
ties.  The  chief  objection  to  it,  aside  from  its  tendency  to  decay, 
which  is  common  to  nearly  all  pines,  has  been  its  poor  holding  power 
on  spikes.  Shipbuilders  complain  of  it  in  the  same  way,  and  in 
certain  parts  of  vessels  where  strain  is  great  it  is  not  advisable  to 
employ  it  unless  reenforced  by  oak  or  some  other  wood  that  holds 
spikes  well.  It  has  also  been  used  extensively  in  Pennsylvania  for 
mine  props.  In  this  capacity  it  comes  into  competition  with  loblolly 
and  longleaf  pine.  In  the  mines  the  real  test  comes  on  durability. 
Pitch  pine  is  more  durable  than  loblolly,  but  less  durable  than 
longleaf. 

One  of  the  largest  uses  for  pitch  pine  is  for  box  and  crate  making. 
In  quantity,  however,  it  is  far  below  other  pines  associated  with  it. 
In  Massachusetts,  in  1909,  box  makers  used  600,000  feet  of  pitch  pine 
and  263,000,000  feet  of  white  pine,  and  in  Maryland  they  used  615,000 
feet  of  pitch  pine  and  70,000,000  of  loblolly. 

Pitch  pine  floors  wear  well,  look  well,  and  have  long  been  in  use. 
In  Pike  County,  Pa.,  a  pitch  pine  floor,  laid  with  boards  2  feet  wide 


WHITE  PINE.  35 

and  1J  inches  thick,  did  service  160  years,  and  was  still  in  such  good 
condition  that  the  boards  were  relaid  for  flooring  in  a  new  house.1 

The  wood  answers  well  for  door  and  window  frames,  ceiling,  and 
other  interior  finish.  Objection  to  the  numerous  knots  which  the 
wood  contains  is  occasionally  made.  The  knots  are  filled  with  resin 
and  are  often  of  much  deeper  color  than  the  clear  wood.  Where 
handsome  appearance  is  desired,  therefore,  pitch  pine  must  be  care- 
fully selected,  or  it  will  not  answer. 

Makers  of  slack  cooperage  work  this  wood  to  advantage  for  barrel 
headings,  crates,  and  nail  kegs. 

Vehicle  manufacturers  employ  it  for  beds  for  wagons.  Its  largest 
users  are  said  to  be  blacksmiths  in  small  country  towns,  who  make 
wagons  as  a  side  line  and  draw  supplies  from  local  sawmills. 

It  serves  many  purposes  in  furniture  making,  chiefly,  however,  as 
an  inside  material,  since  the  knots  are  frequently  considered  as  blem- 
ishes. It  is  given  place  in  cupboards,  ice  chests,  kitchen  cabinets, 
tables,  and  as  shelving  and  drawers  in  desks  and  clothespresses. 

Pitch  pine  piles  are  employed  in  the  construction  of  wharves  and 
bridges.  The  wood  is  cut  into  excelsior  and  is  made  into  pulp. 
It  is  widely  sold  for  fuel  in  brick  kilns,  potteries,  bakeries,  steam 
engines,  and  for  domestic  purposes. 

WHITE  PINE  (Pinus  strobus). 
PHYSICAL    PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 24  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.385   (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.19  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 51  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 8,800  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
55  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,208,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  57  per  cent  that  of  lougleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong,  grain  fine,  straight  and 
even ;  annual  rings  quite  wide  in  young  growth ;  compact ;  summerwood  thin, 
not  conspicuous,  resin  passages  small,  not  numerous  or  conspicuous ;  medullary 
rays  numerous,  thin ;  color  light  brown,  often  slightly  tinged  with  red,  the  sap- 
wood  nearly  white;  easily  worked,  susceptible  of  a  good  polish;  heartwood 
durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Crowth. — Diameter  from  4  to  6  feet,  but  larger  trees  were  formerly  found. 
In  extreme  cases  diameters  above  7  feet  have  been  known.  The  height  is 
usually  from  75  to  120  feet,  but  individuals  have  been  recorded  nearly  or  quite 
240  feet.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  species  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  has 
produced  specimens  of  equal  height. 

SUPPLY. 

White  pine  occurred  originally  in  commercial  quantities  in  Con- 
necticut, Delaware,  Georgia,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Maine, 

1  History  of  the  Lumber  Industry  in  America,  J.  E.  Defebaugh,  vol.  2,  p.  563. 


36  USES   OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  New  Hampshire, 
New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode 
Island,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  Virginia,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  Wisconsin. 

The  cut  has  probably  exceeded  that  of  any  other  species.  Several 
timber  trees  have  a  wider  commercial  range,  and  at  the  present  time 
two  yield  more  lumber  yearly — Douglas  fir  and  longleaf  pine — but 
white  pine  was  the  leader  in  the  markets  for  250  years.  Though 
to-day  the  original  forests  of  this  species  are  mere  fragments  of  what 
they  once  were,  the  second  growth  in  some  regions  is  meeting  heavy 
demand.  In  Massachusetts,  for  example,  the  cut  in  1908  was  238 
million  feet,  and  practically  all  of  it  was  second  growth.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  a  similar  cut  can  be  made  every  year  in  the  future 
from  the  natural  growth  of  white  pine  in  that  State.  It  might  be 
shown  by  a  simple  calculation  that  if  one-tenth  of  the  original  white 
pine  region  were  kept  in  well-protected  second  growth,  like  that  in 
Massachusetts,  it  would  yield  annual  crops,  successively  for  all  time, 
as  large  as  the  white  pine  cut  in  the  United  States  in  1908.  To  do 
this  would  require  the  growth  of  only  25  cubic  feet  of  wood  per  acre 
each  year,  and  good  white  pine  growth  will  easily  double  that 
amount.  The  supply  of  white  pine  lumber  need  never  fail  in  this 
country,  provided  a  moderate  area  is  kept  producing  as  a  result  of 
proper  care. 

During  the  past  30  years  the  largest  cut  of  white  pine  has  come 
from  the  Lake  States — Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota.  At  an 
earlier  period  it  was  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  still 
earlier  the  center  of  supply  was  New  England.  The  output  from 
the  Lake  States  in  1908  was  about  30  per  cent  of  that  in  1892.  This 
decrease  in  output  was  due  to  depletion  of  the  forests.  The  original 
pineries  have  largely  been  cut  out,  and  though  for  some  time  there 
will  be  old-growth  pine  in  the  market,  the  bulk  of  the  future  supply 
must  come  from  new  growth.  No  large  region  of  virgin  timber 
remains.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  this  country  will  ever  again 
see  the  quality  of  this  lumber  it  has  seen  in  the  past.  The  large, 
clear  timber,  such  as  once  came  from  the  northern  pine  regions,  will 
never  come  from  there  again,  because  it  was  sawed  or  hewed  from 
trees  centuries  old.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  forests  of  second 
growth  will  be  permitted  to  attain  that  age  or  that  the  owners  of 
trees  will  wait  for  them  to  attain  a  height  of  150  and  a  diameter  of  4 
feet. 

Estimates  of  the  total  quantity  of  this  pine  in  the  original  forests 
of  the  United  States  should  be  regarded  as  approximations  only. 
The  area,  excluding  Canadian  territory,  was  approximately  350,000 
square  miles.  If  it  is  assumed  that  the  stand  averaged  2,000  feet 
per  acre,  the  total  was  450  billion  feet.  That  estimate  would  appear 


WHITE  PINE.  37 

conservative  in  view  of  the  fact  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  origi- 
nal pine  forest  produced  10,000  feet  per  acre  and  the  actual  amount 
of  this  pine  marketed  from  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois  has 
exceeded  200  billion  board  feet, 

EARLY    DEVELOPMENT. 

"When  the  earliest  colonists  landed  in  New  England  they  found 
the  coast  in  most  places  densely  wooded  with  white  pine,  and  the 
valleys  were  filled  with  it.  There  are  records,  apparently  well 
authenticated,  of  trees  240  feet 'high,  and  the  extreme  limit  of  270 
feet  was  claimed  for  one  that  stood  on  the  site  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege. The  cutting  of  this  timber  began  at  once.  Within  15  years 
after  the  settlement  at  Plymouth  a  cargo  of  masts  was  shipped  to 
England,  and  from  that  time  on  the  trade  between  New  England 
and  the  mother  country  was  maintained.  Within  30  years  after  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  the  people  of  New  England  were 
sending  white  pine  to  Madagascar  and  Guinea  in  Africa,  where  it 
was  exchanged  for  slaves  for  the  Virginia  and  the  West  Indies  trade. 
Exchanges  of  the  timber  were  also  made  for  other  than  human 
chattels.  The  Canary  Islands,  which  produced  wine,  bought  pine 
staves  from  Massachusetts  and  paid  in  wine,  while  Cuba,  Haiti,  and 
other  sugar  islands  exchanged  sugar  for  barrel  and  hogshead  staves. 
A  foreign  trade,  very  large  for  that  time,  was  carried  on  with  white- 
pine  timbers  cut  on  the  Piscataqua  River,  and  in  1650  fears  were 
expressed  that  the  drain  would  exhaust  the  supply.  This  was  within 
30  years  after  the  first  permanent  settlement  on  the  New  England 
coast,  and  at  that  time,  as  is  now  known,  the  primeval  forests  had 
scarcely  been  touched.  The  people  had  an  erroneous  idea  of  their 
extent,  and  many  years  after  the  first  alarm  was  sounded  there  came 
another,  which  drew  from  Joshua  McGee  the  reply  that  the  cutting 
of  a  few  hundred  masts  a  year  would  make  little  inroad  upon 
America's  forests,  which  were,  he  said,  "  14  or  15  miles  long  and  300 
to  400  miles  broad."  1 

As  late  as  1706  there  were  only  70  sawmills  on  the  Piscataqua 
River,  which  was  the  center  of  the  white-pine  operations.  Yet  the}^ 
were  numerous  enough  to  have  made  serious  inroads  upon  the  forests 
had  they  been  larger.  They  were  of  the  sash-saw  style,  were  oper- 
ated by  water  power,  and  their  capacity  ranged  from  1,000  to  3,000 
feet  each  per  day.  All  of  them  combined  did  not  cut  as  much  as 
one  large  modern  mill.  Sawing  lumber  by  hand,  as  was  the  only 

1  Industrial  Experiments  in  British  Colonies  in  North  America,  E.  L.  Lord,  p.  77.  The 
word  "  long  "  was  here  used  to  denote  longitude  in  its  geographical  sense,  and  "  broad  " 
meant  latitude.  The  meaning  was  that  the  pine  forests  extended  300  or  400  miles  north 
and  south  along  the  coast  and  14  or  15  miles  east  and  west,  or  inward  from  the  coast. 
The  manner  of  expressing  the  forest's  extent  shows  how  little  was  then  known  of  its  real 
dimensions. 


38  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

method  in  England  at  that  time,  was  carried  on  little,  if  at  all,  in 
New  England.  It  appears  not  to  have  been  the  actual  cut  of  the 
mills,  but  the  waste,  which  constituted  the  serious  drain  on  the  for- 
ests. It  was  claimed  that  only  one  tree  in  four  was  saved,  the  others 
being  destroyed.  Only  the  best  trees,  and  the  best  parts  of  the  best 
trees,  were  taken.  It  frequently  happened  that  half  a  log  was  cut 
off  and  thrown  away  as  slabs.  At  Bangor  the  accumulation  of  slabs 
thrown  into  the  river  was  so  great  that  the  channel  was  blocked, 
and  passageways  for  vessels  were  cleared  at  great  cost.  Slabs  Avere 
not  the  only  part  thrown  into  the  river,  for  it  is  on  record  that  so 
much  good  lumber  was  dumped  in  the  stream  that  a  boy  in  one  sum- 
mer was  able  to  drag  out  enough  to  build  a  house.  The  markets 
where  the  early  white-pine  lumbermen  found  sale  for  their  com- 
modity demanded  the  highest  quality,  and  the  mill  men  met  the 
demand  with  little  regard  for  the  resulting  waste.  In  1700  the  New 
Hampshire  lumbermen  met,  without  recorded  complaint,  the  de- 
mands of  a  market  which  insisted  upon  having  white-pine  planks 
25  feet  long  and  15  or  18  inches  wide,  and  for  ship  decks  36  feet 
long  and  3  feet  wide. 

Early  records  are  not  available  showing  consecutive  yearly  exports 
of  white  pine  from  the  different  parts  of  New  England,  but  isolated 
items  are  known.  In  1671  the  exports  from  New  Hampshire  totaled 
200,000  tons  of  planks  and  pipe  staves.  In  1699  a  timber  trade  began 
with  Portugal,  and  it  called  forth  most  vigorous  protests  from  mer- 
chants in  England,  who  insisted  that  the  colonists  should  do  their 
trading  through  mercantile  agencies  in  the  mother  country.  The 
aggregate  of  the  Portugal  transactions  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
large,  compared  with  modern  lumber  operations.  One  of  the  most 
vigorous  protests  was  called  forth  when  a  New  England  ship  captain 
at  an  expenditure  of  only  $300  cleared  $1,600  by  carrying  lumber  to 
Portugal.  His  report  of  possibilities  caused  a  sensation  among  the 
owners  of  white-pine  lumber,  and  five  vessels  went  to  Portugal  in 
one  fleet  carrying  masts,  spars,  and  other  ship  timbers.  Reports  of 
the  exports  to  Portugal  for  six  years,  1712-1718,  when  figured  out  by 
modern  measurements,  did  not  much  exceed  2,000,000  feet,  or  one 
modern  shipload — scarcely  enough,  it  would  seem,  to  justify  an  angry 
controversy  between  the  merchants  in  England  and  the  white-pine 
lumbermen  in  America. 

More  than  a  century  ago  the  French  botanist,  Michaux,  speaking 
particularly  of  New  England,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  said 
that  the  white-pine  lumberman  kept  25  or  30  years  in  advance  of  the 
farmer,  his  meaning  being  that  the  land  was  stripped  of  its  pine 
that  long  before  it  was  brought  under  cultivation.  He  had  in  mind 
the  constant  western  movement  of  settlements.  His  observation  might 
need  amendment  before  it  could  be  applied  in  all  parts  of  the  white- 


WHITE  PINE.  39 

pine  region  and  to  all  periods,  yet,  in  a  general  way,  the  cutters  of 
white  pine  have  formed  development's  vanguard  in  the  advance 
across  the  pine  region  from  Maine  to  Minnesota.  The  white  pine's 
lightness,  which  made  it  easy  to  float,  was  a  factor  in  development 
which  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  Every  navigable  river  or  float- 
able stream  was  a  highway  for  the  transportation  of  the  pine  within 
reach  of  it.  The  enormous  drives  of  pine  logs  once  seen  upon  the 
rivers  of  Maine,  Pennsylvania,  and  Michigan  will  probably  never 
again  be  equaled  anywhere.  Had  white  pine  been  as  heavy  as  red  oak, 
lumbering  operations  in  its  region  would  have  followed  different 
lines,  and  the  building  of  railroads  would  have  preceded  the  market- 
ing of  the  timber. 

When  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803  put  an  end  to  restrictions 
which  had  hampered  trade  on  the  lower  Mississippi,  one  of  the  first 
commodities  to  feel  and  respond  to  the  stimulus  was  the  white  pine 
on  the  head  of  the  Allegheny  River  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania 
and  southwestern  New  York.  A  fine  quality  grew  in  that  region 
and  was  frequently  known  as  cork  pine.  Rafts  were  sent  down  from 
the  headwaters  of  the  Allegheny  River,  100  to  200  miles  above  Pitts- 
burg,  and  made  the  long  journey  to  New  Orleans,  more  than  2,000 
miles,  measuring  the  windings  of  the  river.  Sales  were  made  at  $40 
a  thousand,  which  made  the  business  highly  profitable  to  the  lumber- 
man. The  raftsmen  were  accustomed  to  return  on  foot  from  New 
Orleans  to  Pittsburg.  Record  exists  of  a  white-pine  raft  which,  when 
it  passed  Cincinnati,  covered  2  acres,  and  contained  a  million  and  a 
half  feet  of  lumber.  The  difference  in  early  prices  at  Pittsburg,  and 
at  New  Orleans  was  striking.  A  shipment  at  Pittsburg,  a  few  years 
after  trade  began  with  New  Orleans,  sold  at  $5  a  thousand,  and  half 
the  pay  was  taken  in  window  glass. 

WHITE  PINE  LUMBERING. 

The  cutting  of  white  pine  has  been  a  unique  and  interesting  chap- 
ter in  this  country's  industrial  history.  This  does  not  apply  to  the 
marketing  of  the  lumber  so  much  as  to  the  operations  in  the  woods 
before  the  logs  reached  the  sawmills.  It  is  largely  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  has  become  history — a  record  of  two  and  a  half  centuries  of 
conditions  never  known  before  and  which  can  never  occur  again. 
During  two  and  a  half  centuries  the  cutters  of  this  timber  followed 
the  retreating  pine  forest  frontier  westward  from  the  coast  of  Maine 
to  the  source  of  the  Mississippi.  Conditions  at  the  close  of  the  period 
were  very  different  from  those  at  the  beginning,  but  the  white  pine 
lumberman,  with  resourcefulness  and  ingenuity  that  challenge  admira- 
tion, was  equal  to  every  demand  upon  him,  met  every  emergency  that 
arose,  and  again  and  again  changed  his  methods  to  conform  to  changed 
conditions.  Nowhere  else  has  forest  development  exhibited  so  much 


40  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

of  romance  and  human  interest.  The  cypress  lumberman  has  been 
resourceful  in  his  operations  upon  submerged  lands ;  the  yellow  pine 
operators  have  cut  the  primeval  timber  harvest  from  a  wide  area ;  the 
cutters  of  white  oak  and  yellow  poplar  have  worked  as  long  and  have 
gone  scs  far,  but  they  have  done  it  without  stamping  their  individu- 
ality upon  the  history  they  have  made.  The  men  who  have  logged 
and  milled  the  California  redwood  accomplished  much  on  a  small 
area,  and  over  a  wider  region  the  Douglas  fir  has  been  the  means  of 
enormous  development.  But  none  of  these  compare  with  white  pine 
in  the  absorbing  and  peculiar  interest  that  pervades  its  history. 

The  first  lumbermen  on  the  New  England  coast  had  everything  to 
learn  by  experience.  They  brought  no  forest  lore  with  them  from 
the  mother  country,  for  England  was  a  land  without  a  sawmill. 
They  began  with  rude  tools  and  on  a  small  scale.  There  were  no 
great  lumber  camps,  but  a  multitude  of  small,  individual  enterprises. 
No  large  operations  were  carried  on  in  New  England  in  early  times, 
though  much  business  was  done.  White  pine  ship  timbers  were 
brought  down  to  the  sea  by  ox  teams  or  were  floated  on  the  streams. 

When  the  white  pine  operators  reached  New  York  and  northern 
Pennsylvania,  they  found  it  necessary  to  carry  on  their  work  in  a 
different  way.  They  put  the  watercourses  to  more  use,  or  used  them 
over  a  larger  region.  Practically  the  whole  State  of  New  York  was 
a  continuous  forest  of  white  pine,  and  much  of  Pennsylvania  was  the 
same.  The  best  of  the  timber  near  the  lower  Hudson  River  was  cut 
very  early  by  settlers,  and  that  part  of  the  stream  was  never  much 
used  for  rafts  and  log  drives.  The  stream  could  not  be  used  in  that 
way,  for  the  current,  because  of  the  tides  which  ebb  and  flow  twice  a 
day,  is  too  weak  to  carry  floating  objects  down,  unless  the  wind  hap- 
pens to  be  in  the  right  quarter  at  the  right  time.  Log  drives  on 
streams  farther  west  became  common.  Floods  were  depended  upon 
to  carry  the  rafts  or  the  loose  logs  in  the  streams.  They  were  trans- 
ported in  that  way  from  forests  to  the  mills,  sometimes  a:  hundred 
miles  or  more.  That  made  operations  on  a  large  scale  not  only  possi- 
ble but  necessary.  Some  of  the  rivers  of  western  New  York  floAv 
through  lakes  where  there  is  practically  no  current.  When  the  drive 
of  logs  arrived  at  such  a  lake,  they  spread  out  upon  the  surface,  and 
the  wind  drove  them  back  and  forth,  scattering  them  and  stranding 
many  of  them  upon  the  shores.  The  lumberman's  ingenuity  was 
called  upon  to  overcome  that  difficulty,  and  it  was  done  by  bunching 
the  logs  by  passing  a  long  cable  around  them  and  thus  keeping  them 
from  separating  and  scattering.  The  logs  were  held  in  a  body  by 
that  means,  but  the  current  was  not  sufficient  to  carry  them  down 
the  lake  to  the  outlet.  To  overcome  that  difficulty,  windlasses  were 
erected  at  certain  points  along  the  shore,  and  by  means  of  ropes  at- 
tached to  the  logs  they  were  warped  down  the  lakes,  often  against 


WHITE  PINE.  41 

head  winds,  until  the  current  of  the  outflow  caught  them  and  carried 
them  upon  their  journey. 

The  log  drives  and  the  rafting  in  the  State  of  New  York  were 
small  in  comparison  with  those  upon  the  rivers  which  flowed  south 
through  Pennsylvania — that  is,  the  Delaware,  the  Susquehanna,  and 
the  Allegheny.  The  pine  forests  on  the  heads  of  those  streams  sup- 
plied large  operators  for  many  years.  The  Delaware  was  earliest  in 
point  of  time,  and  Philadelphia  Avas  the  chief  market.  The  Susque- 
hanna followed,  with  its  sources  in  the  great  pine  forests  of  New 
York  and  Northern  Pennsylvania.  Many  of  the  head  streams  were 
too  small  and  rough  for  rafting,  and  the  logs  were  driven  out  on  the 
crests  of  floods  or  by  the  aid  of  splash  dams.  These  were  built  to 
impound  the  water  and  create  artificial  floods  from  time  to  time  by 
opening  the  gates.  When  the  logs  had  been  carried  to  the  larger 
streams  they  were  either  sawed  into  lumber  or  were  collected  in 
rafts  to  be  sent  farther  down.  The  Susquehanna  was  regarded  as  a 
more  difficult  and  dangerous  stream  than  either  the  Delaware  or  the 
Allegheny.  It  had  more  rapids,  more  dams,  sharper  bends,  swifter 
currents,  and  called  for  more  skill  and  alertness  on  the  part  of  rafts- 
men. The  rivermen  looked  upon  themselves  as  professionals,  and 
were  proud  of  their  calling.  Rafts  usually  floated  40  to  50  miles  a 
day,  and  at  night  were  tied  to  trees  on  the  banks.  Instances  are  on 
record  of  rafts  from  far  up  the  Susquehanna  which  passed  the  length 
of  the  river  and  floated  down  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  where 
the  lumber  reached  a  market.  The  passage  down  the  bay  was  made 
with  the  assistance  of  the  towing  tugs. 

The  white  pine  forests  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  ended  at 
Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie,  but  beyond  these  lakes,  in  Canada  and 
farther  on  in  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  they  continued 
almost  unbroken  for  hundreds  of  miles,  wherever  there  was  land. 
In  that  region  of  the  lakes  the  largest  and  last  of  the  primeval  white 
pine  forests  of  this  country  stood  and  there  was  carried  on  a  system 
of  lumbering  which  was  in  many  ways  unique  and  peculiar,  with 
nothing  else  like  it  in  our  forest  history.  All  the  accumulated  expe- 
rience gained  in  200  years  among  the  pineries  of  New  England,  New 
York,  and  Pennsylvania  was  carried  to  Michigan,  and  was  there 
turned  to  account  in  harvesting  the  vast  timber  wealth  of  that  region. 

Early  lumbering  there  was  on  a  small  scale,  as  in  other  parts  of 
the  country,  but  when  the  demand  came  for  the  clear,  soft  pine  of 
Michigan  lumbermen  were  ready  to  provide  it.  Land  was  cheap, 
and  for  all  practical  purposes  it  seemed  limitless.  It  was  easy  to 
acquire  and  passed  rapidly  into  the  hands  of  private  owners  or  cor- 
porations. Cruisers,  popularly  known  as  "  landlookers,"  were  sent 
into  the  woods  to  locate  choice  tracts,  which  were  bought  up  by  capi- 
talists. When  a  body  of  timber  of  sufficient  extent  was  secured  a 


42  USES   OF  COMMEKCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

camp  was  established  and  the  cutting  began.  Care  was  not  always 
taken  to  procure  lawful  title.  Timber  stealing  from  public  lands 
was  common  in  that  region,  as  it  had  been  in  New  York  arid  New 
England  earlier  and  as  it  was  in  the  Western  States  at  a  later  period. 
The  owner  of  a  tract  sometimes  cut  more  timber  from  surrounding 
land  than  from  his  own. 

Operations  were  usually  on  a  large  scale.  The  camp  was  an  aggre- 
gation of  buildings  so  situated  that  a  large  area  could  be  worked 
from  that  center.  It  consisted  of  a  cookhouse,  bunkhouse,  store, 
office,  and  stables.  The  number  of  men  in  a  camp  varied  from  20 
or  less  to  100  or  more.  The  hours  of  work  in  winter  were  from  day- 
light till  dark;  with  extra  hours  for  teamsters  and  cooks.  The  most 
of  the  work  at  such  camps  was  done  in  winter,  and  the  logs  were 
made  ready  for  the  spring  drives  on  the  rivers.  The  cutting  was 
done  with  axes  and  saws — chiefly  saws.  That  was  different  from 
the  early  lumbering  in  New  England,  where  saws  were  scarce  and 
expensive  and  the  trees  were  not  only  felled  with  axes,  but  the  logs 
were  cut  off  by  the  same  tool,  with  extra  chopping  to  square  the  ends. 
The  peavy — a  cant  hook  with  a  pike  attachment — was  in  universal 
use  in  the  Michigan  lumber  regions.  Roads  were  cut  in  summer  to 
be  ready  for  winter.  They  led  from  different  parts  of  the  tract  to 
points  on  the  drivable  streams  where  the  logs  were  banked  ready  for 
floating. 

The  cold  was  seldom  or  never  severe  enough  in  the  northern  woods 
to  keep  the  log  cutters  from  their  work,  and  from  the  first  cool  days 
of  autumn  till  the  snow  began  to  melt  in  the  spring  the  felling  of 
trees  and  the  hauling  of  logs  were  pushed  with  tireless  energy.  Camp 
competed  with  camp  and  crew  with  crew  in  turning  out  good  work 
and  plenty^of  it. 

The  landings  along  the  streams  were  piled  high  with  logs  by  the 
opening  of  spring.  Millions  of  feet  were  ready  for  the  freshets  that 
followed  the  melting  of  the  snow  and  the  warm  rains,  and  then  came 
the  crisis  which  was  to  determine  whether  the  long  winter's  work 
was  to  end  in  complete  success  or  partial  failure.  The  winter's  cut 
must  be  driven  downstream  to  the  mills.  If  the  drive  should  lag 
and  the  falling  water  find  logs  still  on  the  way  and  hung  up  on  bars 
and  ledges,  the  loss  must  be  considerable,  for  white-pine  logs  left  all 
summer  are  apt  to  be  damaged  by  the  discoloring  of  the  sapwood  or 
by  the  activity  of  worms.  It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  of  importance 
that  the  logs  should  be  safely  delivered  in  the  boom  at  the  mill  be- 
fore the  spring  freshets  subsided.  The  drive  was  the  most  trying 
time  of  the  year.  The  men  worked  cheerfully  from  daylight  to  dark, 
nor  grumbled  if  extra  hours  were  required  far  into  the  night.  It  was 
a  time  of  excessive  toil,  much  excitement,  and  constant  danger.  Logs, 
piled  high  at  the  landings,  might  precipitate  themselves  with  fatal 


WHITE  PINE.  43 

results  upon  the  men  who  were  skidding  them  into  the  river.  There 
were  jams  in  the  streams  to  be  broken,  and  the  work  was  perilous. 
The  men  acquired  skill  in  riding  single  logs  down  rapids,  but  some- 
times the  spiked  shoes  on  which  the  rider  depended  failed  at  the 
critical  moment  or  from  some  other  cause  he  lost  his  balance  on  the 
whirling  log  and  was  thrown  into  the  icy  stream.  He  usually  saved 
himself,  but  not  always.  It  was  a  remarkable  fact  that  some  men 
who  could  not  swim  followed  and  took  part  in  the  log  drives  for 
years,  escaping  from  every  peril,  while  good  swimmers  sometimes 
lost  their  lives  by  drowning. 

Many  large  operators  built  steam  log  roads  from  the  forest  to  the 
mill,  and  did  not  depend  upon  the  rivers  to  bring  the  logs  down. 
That  arrangement  was  more  dependable  than  the  spring  flood,  though 
less  spectacular.  Operations  then  went  on  the  whole  year  through, 
both  at  the  woods  and  at  the  mill.  The  steam  log  loader  lightened  the 
work  of  the  cant -hook  men  by  lifting  the  timber  and  placing  it  on 
the  car,  and  many  other  labor-saving  devices  were  introduced  during 
the  period  wiien  the  bulk  of  the  Lake  States  timber  was  going  to 
market. 

The  decline  in  the  output  was  as  rapid  as  the  rise.  Year  by  year 
vast  tracts  of  white  pine  were  cut  out  and  left  barren,  and  the  lum- 
bermen moved  to  new  locations ;  but  the  time  finally  arrived  when  no 
extensive  new  tracts  remained  and  the  golden  age  of  white-pine  lum- 
bering passed  into  history. 

SHIPBUILDING. 

White  pine  has  entered  extensively  into  shipbuilding  in  this  coun- 
try ever  since  the  first  yards  were  established.  In  1668  this  industry 
had  reached  importance  in  New  England,  and  by  1721  Massachusetts 
alone  was  launching  annually  from  140  to  160  vessels.  Vessels  were 
seldom  or  never  made  entirely  of  white  pine,  but  for  certain  parts  it 
was  unexcelled.  It  is  weaker  than  the  Riga  pine,  which  was  its  chief 
competitor  one  and  two  centuries  ago,  but  it  is  lighter,  and  that  was 
an  important  consideration.  Masts  other  than  white  pine  were  sel- 
dom seen  on  New  England  ships.  The  wood  was  liable  to  quicker 
decay  than  the  Riga  pine  at  points  of  intersection  with  other  timbers 
and  below  deck,  but  a  preservative  treatment  was  early  put  in  prac- 
tice. This  consisted  in  boring  holes  in  the  tops  of  the  masts  and  fill- 
ing them  with  oil,  which  gradually  penetrated  downward,  and  it  was 
claimed  for  it  that  it  prevented  decay.  Not  only  were  pine  masts, 
yards,  and  bowsprits  extensively  used  in  American  shipyards,  but  in 
English  yards  as  well.  The  Revolutionary  War  interrupted  exporta- 
tions,  but  by  1789  shipments  were  again  crossing  the  Atlantic,  and 
houses  in  Scotland  began  to  be  finished  in  white  pine.1 

1  European  Commerce,  J.  J.  Oddy,  London,  1805. 


44  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

For  spars  a  length  of  114  feet  and  a  diameter  of  38  inches  were 
often  specified.  When  Philadelphia  became  an  important  mast  mar- 
ket, the  timbers  being  floated  down  the  Delaware  River,  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  regulate  the  price  by  the  diameter  in  inches  12  feet  from 
the  ground.  A  common  price  was  $1.50  for  every  inch  in  diameter. 

The  figureheads  for  New  England-built  vessels  were  generally 
carved  from  white  pine,  and  for  this  purpose  the  best  parts  of  large, 
old  trees  were  selected — called  pumpkin  pine,  from  the  fact  that 
the  grain  of  the  wood  was  highly  homogeneous  and  could  be  cut  in 
all  directions,  like  a  pumpkin,  a  quality  appreciated  by  the  carver. 

Pine  suitable  for  masts  had  become  scarce  by  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  in  many  regions  where  excellent  timbers  of  that 
kind  were  formerly  cut.  In  1805  Michaux  did  not  see  a  single  white- 
pine  tree  suitable  for  a  mast  for  a  600-ton  vessel  during  a  journey 
of  600  miles  from  Philadelphia  to  Boston  and  beyond. 

White  pine  has  been  and  still  is  valuable  for  many  parts  of  boat 
and  ship  construction,  besides  masts,  yards,  and  bowsprits.  In  1750 
white-pine  canoes,  hewed  from  single  trunks,  were  common  at  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  and  they  were  counted  good  for  8  to  12  years  of  service.1 
Yellow  poplar  was  the  chief  canoe  wood  farther  south  and  west. 
White-pine  batteaux  plied  the  Hudson,  and. doubtless  other  eastern 
rivers,  before  the  French  and  Indian  War.  Albany  was  an  impor- 
tant center  of  the  white-pine  lumber  trade,  and  as  late  as  1806  the 
product  was  hauled  on  sleds  from  Skeensborough  to  that  place,  a 
distance  of  70  miles. 

At  the  present  time  the  high  price  of  white  pine  excludes  it  from 
some  of  its  former  uses  in  shipbuilding.  Douglas  fir  from  the  Pacific 
coast  is  largely  substituted  in  spars  and  yards.  In  smaller  vessels, 
particularly  in  yachts,  it  is  a  favorite  deck  material,  and  it  is  used 
in  fishing  dories. 

BRIDGES. 

Within  the  white  pine  region  it  has  been  a  valuable  and  much- 
used  bridge  timber.  Its  breaking  strength  is  45  per  cent  under  that 
of  longleaf  pine  of  the  South,  and  where  strain  is  great  it  is  inferior 
to  longleaf  for  bridges.  There  are,  however,  many  parts  of  bridge 
construction  where  great  strength  is  not  the  chief  requisite,  and  in 
such  places  white  pine  finds  its  best  use.  It  has  sufficient  strength,  if 
employed  in  adequate  sizes,  for  any  part  of  small  and  medium-sized 

1  The  Indians  of  New  York  were  using  white-pine  canoes  when  Europeans  began  to 
occupy  the  country,  and  had  probably  done  so  long  before.  The  National  Museum  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  has  a  portion  of  a  pine  canoe  which  is  believed  to  be  prehistoric. 
It  was  discovered  in  1893,  buried  in  mud  near  Lake  Petonia,  Chenango  County,  N.  Y. 
It  shows  charred  wood,  and  may  have  been  hollowed  by  fire,  a  method  often  employed  by 
savages  in  canoe  making.  The  workmanship  is  crude,  some  parts  of  the  shell  being 
much  thicker  than  other  parts,  and  the  canoe  possesses  none  of  the  graceful  lines  so  fre- 
quently associated  with  the  handicraft  of  Indians.  Other  white-pine  canoes  made  by 
New  York  Indians  are  in  existence,  but  they  do  not  date  beyond  the  period  of  edged  tools. 


WHITE   PINE.  45 

bridges,  and  in  some  notable  instances  it  has  been  the  chief  or  sole 
material  of  large  bridges.  It  was  used  in  the  early  structures  span- 
ning the  Schuylkill  River  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  timbers  in  one 
of  them  were  found  in  good  condition  after  37  years.  The  Delaware 
River  at  Trenton  was  likewise  bridged  with  white  pine,  and  it  formed 
a  large  part  of  a  bridge  connecting  Boston  with  Cambridge.  The 
aqueduct  over  the  Allegheny  River  at  Pittsburg,  by  which  the  State 
canal  crossed  the  stream,  was  built  of  white  pine.  It  was  16  feet  wide 
and  1,020  feet  long,  with  7  spans. 

Many  of  the  bridges  in  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania  and  In  West 
Virginia,  by  which  the  old  pikes  crossed  the  numerous  streams,  were 
built  of  white  pine,  and  it  was  said  of  some  of  them  that  no  man  had 
lived  long  enough  to  witness  their  building  and  their  failure  through 
decay.  Some  of  these  structures  were  marvels  in  efficiency.  Extra 
large  timbers  were  unnecessary,  and  though  slight  in  appearance, 
they  carried  every  load  that  came  during  periods  often  exceeding  half 
a  century.  They  were  roofed — usually  with  white  pine  shingles — 
and  were  weatherboarded  with  white  pine  or  yellow  poplar,  and 
though  painted  only  once  or  twice  in  a  generation  they  stood  almost 
immune  from  decay. 

HOUSES. 

An  estimate  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  by  a 
traveler  who  had  visited  all  the  eastern  portions  of  the  United 
States  was  that  500,000  houses,  exclusive  of  those  in  cities,  were  built 
of  white  pine.1  He  said  that  three  out  of  four  of  the  buildings  of 
Pittsburg,  Wheeling,  and  other  towns  on  the  Ohio  River  were  wholly 
or  largely  of  that  wood.  It  was  the  material  of  rough  construction 
and  of  inside  and  outside  finish.  It  was  sometimes  stained  to  imitate 
cherry  and  mahogany,  but  was  generally  left  in  its  natural  color,  with 
only  a  finish  of  oil,  or  with  none.  All  through  New  England  and 
New  York  it  was  a  common  building  material  while  it  was  abundant. 
The  finest  residences  and  the  humblest  cottages  employed  it.  It  was 
manufactured  into  thin  shingles  and  into  the  heaviest  beams  for 
churches  and  other  large  structures.  When  window  sash  was  manu- 
factured by  hand  no  wood  was  better  than  the  clear,  soft,  white  pine. 
The  carpenter  could  do  more  with  it,  and  with  less  effort,  than  with 
any  other  wood.  Many  old  houses  of  New  England  that  were  built 
before  the  Revolutionary  War  exhibit  the  excellent  service  white  pine 
will  give  as  interior  finish.  The  Hancock  House  at  Lexington,  Mass., 
has  panel  work  that  was  old  when  the  opening  battle  of  the  Revolution 
was  fought  there.  Some  of  the  wood  was  finished  in  imitation  of 
mahogany,  and  occasionally  it  is  mistaken  for  that  wood  by  visitors 

*A.  F.  Michaux. 


46  USES  OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

who  judge  it  by  its  color  only.  The  belfry  where  hung  the  lights 
which  signaled  Paul  Revere  to  rouse  the  minute  men  on  the  morning 
of  the  fight  was  of  white  pine,  clear,  straight,  soft,  and  of  a  rich  color 
which  a  century  and  a  third  had  not  changed  when  the  belfry  fell. 

The  use  of  white  pine  for  all  classes  of  buildings  is  less  than 
formerly,  because  the  total  cut  in  the  country  is  not  now  half  of  what 
it  once  was.  Increased  cost  has  driven  it  from  many  places  which  it 
once  held  and  cheaper  woods  have  been  substituted,  yet  it  holds  its 
own  in  higher  class  structures.  It  may  be  quarter-sawed,  and  pre- 
sents an  attractive  grain.  Large  quantities  of  lath  are  made  from 
slabs  or  inferior  logs.  Such  material  was  once  thrown  away.  Win- 
dow sash  made  by  machinery  has  taken  the  place  of  the  handmade 
article  of  years  ago,  but  the  same  high-grade  lumber  is  demanded. 
White-pine  doors  meet  a  large  and  exacting  demand.  The  light 
weight  of  the  wood,  its  cheerful  color,  and  its  freedom  from  Avarping 
give  it  a  value  in  almost  every  market.  It  is  too  soft  for  floors  which 
are  subject  to  excessive  wear,  but  is  excellent  in  certain  situations. 
As  siding,  it  has  few  equals.  It  paints  well,  holds  its  form,  lasts  a 
long  time,  and  its  appearance  is  attractive.  The  same  properties  fit 
it  for  ceiling,  molding,  panels,  brackets,  and  railing.  It  is  exten- 
sively used  for  shelves  in  cupboards,  pantries,  and  fruit  closets.  Few 
woods  equal  it  for  outside  and  inside  window  blinds. 

The  white  pine  that  grows  in  the  Southern  Appalachians  is  botani- 
cally  the  same  as  the  northern  species,  but  the  character  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  wood  are  different.  The  homogeneous-grained 
pumpkin  pine  of  New  England  and  the  cork  pine  of  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  are  not  found  in  the  South.  The  lumber  from  the 
southern  tree  is  harder  and  is  usually  tinged  with  red.  Its  knots  are 
generally  round  and  sound,  and  often  red.  It  never  produces  as 
much  clear  lumber  as  the  northern  pine,  and  the  southern  representa- 
tive of  the  species  seldom  forms  extensive  pure  forests. 

SHINGLES. 

The  number  of  shinglec  made  from  white  pine  in  the  United  States 
has  been  enormous.  The  three  States,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota,  produced  85  billion  in  24  years.  Shingles  have  been 
made  of  this  wood  since  the  earliest  settlements  of  New  England. 
For  two  centuries  they  were  made  by  the  slow  process  of  hand  work. 
The  logs  were  cut  into  bolts  by  hand,  rived  with  a  frow,  and  the 
shingles  were  shaved  with  a  drawing  knife,  the  only  other  machine 
being  a  "  shaving  horse,"  a  contrivance  for  holding  the  shingle  while 
the  manufacture  went  on.  It  was  a  slow  process,  and  the  man  who 
could  rive  and  shave  500  shingles  in  a  day  was  fully  up  to  the 
average  of  his  craft.  That  many  shingles  sold  for  a  dollar  or  two, 
depending  upon  time  and  place.  The  rustic  shingle  maker  was  an 


WHITE  PINE.  47 

expert  in  his  line,  and  was  supposed  to  be  able  to  tell  from  a  pine 
tree's  general  appearance  whether  it  would  "  rive."  He  was  at  liberty, 
however,  to  test  any  trees  he  pleased  by  "  blocking  "  them — cutting  a 
large  block  out  of  the  side  of  a  standing  tree  to  sample  its  splitting 
properties.  If  it  did  not  suit,  he  passed  on,  leaving  the  blocked  tree 
a  prey  to  the  next  forest  fire  that  would  ignite  the  resin  which  accu- 
mulated in  and  about  the  wound. 

The  pioneer  custom  in  Kentucky  of  killing  buffaloes  for  their 
tongues  was  little  more  wasteful  than  the  primitive  white  pine 
shingle  maker's  procedure.  He  used  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
choicest  part  of  pine  trees.  The  sapwood,  the  knots,  much  of  the 
heart,  and  practically  the  whole  trunk  above  the  first  20  feet  were 
left  in  the  woods  to  rot.  It  was  not  unusual  to  sacrifice  a  3, 000- foot 
tree  to  get  1,000  shingles — throwing  away  fourteen-fifteenths  and 
using  one-fifteenth.  The  introduction  of  shingle-making  machinery 
put  a  stop  to  that  enormous  waste,  for  the  saws  could  make  shingles 
of  knots,  slabs,  tops,  cross  grains,  and  all  else,  from  stump  to  crown. 
The  old-style  method  of  shingle  making  died  hard,  for  the  shavers 
opposed  the  introduction  of  machines,  and  declared  the  ruination  of 
the  country  would  follow  so  radical  a  revolution  in  a  widespread 
industry. 

It  was  sometimes  found  necessary  to  regulate  by  law  the  making 
of  shingles  by  the  old  process.  Thus,  in  1783,  an  act  passed  by  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  provided  that  if  a  bunch  of  shingles  fell 
2  per  cent  short  of  the  regulation  length,  the  shingles  should  be  seized 
and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  Under  the  old  method  every 
individual  piece  was  counted  as  a  shingle,  and  it  must  be  approxi- 
mately of  the  right  length  and  width ;  when  sawed  shingles  came  in 
they  might  be  any  width,  but  every  4  inches  made  a  shingle,  and 
a  piece  a  foot  wide  counted  three  shingles.  They  were  packed  in 
bunches,  usually  containing  250  shingles.  When  made  by  hand,  two 
kinds  were  produced,  known  as  "  joint "  and  "  lap."  The  latter  were 
longer,  with  one  edge  thick,  the  other  thin,  and  when  nailed  on  the 
roof  the  edge  of  one  lapped  over  the  edge  of  another,  like  weather- 
boarding.  The  joint  shingles  were  short,  and  were  nailed  edge  to 
edge,  like  sawed  shingles. 

FURNITURE. 

White  pine  is  not  usually  classed  as  a  furniture  wood  with  ,oak, 
cherry,  birch,  maple,  and  mahogany,  yet  large  quantities  of  it  are 
made  into  furniture,  and  have  been  so  made  for  200  years.  Articles 
of  furniture  wholly  of  this  wood  are  now  unusual,  but  it  enters  into 
many  parts.  It  is  often  found  as  shelving  in  bookcases,  cabinets, 
cupboards,  presses,  and  as  tops  for  kitchen  tables.  For  drawing 
tables  and  boards  it  is  still  the  most  available  wood.  The  cost  of  the 


48  USES  OF   COMMEKCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

wood  now  excludes  it  from  uses  wherein  its  former  cheapness  placed 
it.  The  highest  grade  of  white  pine  does  not  differ  much  in  cost 
from  black  walnut  and  mahogany,  though  cheap  grades  may  be  had. 
A  table  of  clear  white  pine  would  not  fall  much,  if  any,  below  the 
cost  of  one  of  oak. 

The  use  of  white  pine  in  furniture  making  is  chiefly  historical.  A 
hundred  years  ago  it  was  employed  for  the  interior  of  mahogany 
bureaus,  chiffoniers,  and  tables.  To-day  a  cheaper  wood  is  used.  In 
the  pioneer  days,  within  the  pine  regions,  it  furnished  the  bulk  of  the 
rural  furniture  material.  Articles  made  wholly  of  it  did  not  last 
long  if  they  were  subject  to  much  wear  or  strain;  but  the  wood  was 
cheap,  easy  to  work,  and  it  was  made  into  chairs,  benches,  stools, 
bedsteads,  cupboards,  presses,  tables,  and  nearly  all  else  that  country 
houses  contained.  Oak  was  nearly  always  to  be  had  when  pine  was 
used,  and  the  preference  given  to  pine  was  due,  in  most  instances,  to 
the  greater  ease  with  which  it  could  be  worked.  The  makers  of 
church  furniture  find  a  number  of  places  for  white  pine. 

BOXES. 

White  pine  holds  its  place  remarkably  well  as  a  box  material,  in 
spite  of  the  lessening  supply  and  advancing  price.  It  is  lighter  than 
the  yellow  pines  and  red  gum,  which  are  its  hardest  rivals.  It  nails 
much  more  easily  than  they,  though  it  does  not  hold  nails  so  well. 
Box  lumber  is  generally  of  cheap  grade,  and  second-growth  pine  is 
not  excluded  because  of  knots.  In  Massachusetts,  in  1908,  box 
makers  used  263  million  feet  of  second-growth  pine,  at  an  average 
cost  at  the  factory  of  $16.85  per  thousand  feet.  A  large  part  of  this 
pine  was  made  into  shoe  boxes.  Another  large  use  for  the  wood  is 
in  the  manufacture  of  boxes  for  the  shipment  of  cloth  and  other  mer- 
chandise from  wholesalers  to  retailers.  Shipping  cases  of  this  char- 
acter are  often  of  large  size,  requiring  a  hundred  feet  or  more  of 
lumber.  Boxes  for  pianos  and  organs  are  often  of  white  pine,  and 
it  is  much  in  demand  for  fruit  boxes  and  cases  in  which  to  pack 
chocolates  and  candies  for  shipment.  Many  tobacco  cases  are  made 
of  it,  and  it  is,  in  fact,  employed  for  boxes  of  so  many  kinds  that  par- 
ticular reference  to  each  class  would  be  impossible.  Many  users  of 
cheese  boxes  insist  on  having  it,  in  preference  to  all  others,  because 
it  imparts  no  taste.  It  is  made  into  bottoms  and  tops,  while  the  bent 
wood  is  ash,  elm,  or  some  other  wood  which  is  not  apt  to  impart  a 
taste. 

COOPERAGE. 

Large  amounts  of  white  pine  are  employed  in  cooperage,  chiefly 
in  what  is  known  as  straight-stave  ware.  That  includes  fish  and  lard 
buckets,  washtubs,  water  pails,  sirup  buckets,  keelers,  piggins,  churns^ 


•   WHITE  PINE.  49 

and  ice-cream  freezers.  In  making  fish  barrels  the  sapling  pine  is 
used.  This  is  a  hard,  tough,  resinous,  coarse-grained  white  pine, 
which  has  greater  strength  than  the  ordinary  kind.  Its  character 
is  supposed  to  be  due  to  its  place  of  growth  on  dry,  elevated  lands. 
White  pine  grows  in  various  soils  and  situations,  but  the  better  the 
land  the  better  the  wood.  The  sapling  pine  is  in  a  measure  similar 
to  the  white  poplar — a  tough,  inferior  kind  of  yellow  poplar  which 
has  grown  on  dry,  poor  land. 

The  cooper  chooses  white  pine  for  a  rather  large  class  of  domestic 
wares  which  are  intended  to  contain  articles  of  food.  Among  these 
are  salt  buckets,  and  small  kegs  or  keelers  to  contain  spice,  cloves, 
tea,  coffee,  and  similar  commodities  belonging  to  the  pantry  and 
kitchen. 

A  larger  kind  of  cooperage  calls  for  the  same  wood,  and  it  is  manu- 
factured into  silos  and  tanks.  Some  of  the  highest  grade  white 
pine  is  purchased  by  tank  builders. 

The  wood  is  well  fitted  for  barrel  and  keg  heads  and  barrel  bungs, 
and  it  serves  as  bottoms  for  bent-wood  measures,  and  particularly 
as  bottoms  for  axle-grease  boxes. 

FARM    USES. 

White  pine  has  had  and  still  has  many  uses  about  the  farm  in  addi- 
tion to  those  already  enumerated.  Vast  quantities  of  it  were  built 
into  fences  while  it  was  cheap  and  convenient.  It  was  occasionally 
split  for  rails,  though  probably  not  often.  It  was  not  an  ideal 
fence-post  wood,  because  it  did  not  last  long,  yet  it  was  extensively 
employed  for  that  purpose.  Its  chief  importance  in  fence  building 
was  as  sawed  boards  to  be  nailed  to  posts  and  as  pickets  for  inclosing 
gardens  and  truck  patches.  Such  a  fence,  under  favorable  condi- 
tions, would  do  service  15  or  20  years  with  slight  repairs.  Picket 
fences  were  formerly  seen  much  oftener  than  at  present,  and  the 
increased  cost  of  white  pine  and  yellow  poplar,  two  excellent  woods 
for  that  purpose,  has  doubtless  had  something  to  do  with  the  partial 
disappearance  of  pickets  around  yards  and  gardens. 

Parts  of  many  farm  machines  are  of  white  pine.  For  hoppers, 
sieve  frames,  parts  of  screens,  boxes,  drawers,  seed  holders,  tool 
carriers,  and  many  other  portions  of  fanning  mills,  reapers,  drills, 
tedders,  thrashing  machines,  corn  shellers,  separators,  and  scores  of 
other  apparatus  and  appliances  that  are  necessary  to  a  modern  farm 
it  holds  an  important  place.  Its  use  for  dairy  machinery  and  appli- 
ances does  not  appear  to  be  decreasing. 

Many  bee  men  prefer  it  to  most  othej*  woods  for  hives  and  frames,1 
and  poultry  men  consider  that  its  lightness  fits  it  above  many  others 
as  material  for  egg  carriers,  brooders,  incubators,  and  other  poultry- 
yard  appliances. 

101500°— Bull.  99—11 1 


50  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL,   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

WATER  PIPES. 

White  pine  was  formerly  made  into  mains  and  pipes  for  municipal 
waterworks,  and  some  use  of  it  for  that  purpose  still  continues.  It 
was  also  employed  in  New  England  and  New  York  mills  for  conduct- 
ing water  from  ponds  to  forebays  and  wheels.  The  millwright 
constructed  conduits  of  staves  joined  and  banded,  and  forming  a  con- 
tinuous piece  without  coupling — called  broken- joint  construction. 
Mains  of  that  kind  were  seldom  of  great  length,  ranging  from  a  few 
feet  to  £0  or  100. 

The  mains  and  pipes  for  town  and  city  water  supply  were  of  a 
different  kind.  They  were  not  of  staves,  forming  a  cylindrical  trunk 
or  conduit,  but  of  logs  with  a  hole  bored  lengthwise  and  fastened  end 
to  end  with  water-tight  couplings.  It  is  uncertain  when  pipes  of 
that  kind  first  came  into  use  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  United 
States.  A  few  were  employed  at  an  early  day,  and  they  were  doing 
service  in  many  towns  a  century  or  more  ago.  Other  woods  were 
given  a  place,  but  in  most  instances  where  early  records  mention  the 
kind  of  wood,  it  was  white  pine  within  the  range  of  that  tree,  and 
occasionally  outside  of  its  immediate  range.  At  Wilmington,  Del., 
when  300  feet  of  pine  pipe  was  taken  up  it  was  sound,  though  it 
had  been  in  the  ground  at  least  70  years,  and  no  one  knew  how  much 
longer.  Pipes  of  the  same  kind  were  laid  in  the  Jamaica  Pond 
Waterworks,  Boston,  very  early — probably  about  1800 — and  in  1895 
sections  were  removed  in  good  condition,  though  they  had  been  out 
of  use  many  years.  Pipe  laid  early  in  the  century  in  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  was  undecayed  after  long  periods  of  service. 

When  wooden  pipes  are  kept  full  of  water,  under  considerable  pres- 
sure, the  water  fills  the  pores  of  the  wood  and  prevents  decay.  To 
that  fact  is  due  the  long  service  given  by  pipes  made  of  woods  which, 
in  ordinary  damp  situations,  decay  in  a  short  time.  The  pipes  re- 
moved from  the  Jamaica  Pond  Waterworks  were  hardened  on  the 
outside  and,  when  cut,  the  wood  was  fresh  and  bright. 

About  1860  an  improved  method  of  making  wooden  pipe  was  intro- 
duced, and  the  product  was  called  the  "  Wyckoff  pipe,"  named  from 
the  inventor,  A.  Wyckoff,  of  Elmira,,  N.  Y.  Instead  of  boring  the  in- 
terior of  a  log  as  the  ordinary  auger  does  it,  a  machine  was  designed 
to  take  out  a  core.  From  this  core  a  smaller  was  taken,  and  from 
that  a  still  smaller,  until  a  log  was  made  into  several  pipes,  ranging 
downward  in  size.  The  largest  had  an  inside  diameter  of  17  inches 
and  the  smallest  2  inches.  The  waste  was  comparatively  small.  In 
1905  there  were  1,500  miles  of  such  pipe  in  the  United  States,  serving 
in  municipal  waterworks,  manufacturing  plants,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses. Michigan  had  more  than  any  other  State.  The  pipe  is  manu- 
factured from  a  number  of  woods,  but  more  white  pine  seems  to  have 


WHITE   PINE.  51 

been  used  than  any  other  one  wood.  Forty-five  miles  of  bored  white- 
pine  pipe  was  in  service  at  one  time  in  and  near  North  Tonawanda, 
N.  Y.,  with  bore  from  2  to  6  inches.  After  IT  miles  of  it  had  been  11 
years  in  use,  it  was  so  satisfactory  that  28  additional  miles  of  the 
same  kind  were  laid.  The  repair  bill  on  the  17  miles  for  its  eleventh 
year  of  service  was  only  $7.52. 

It  is  found  advantageous  to  cover  the  outside  of  wooden  pipe  with 
tar  and  other  water-proofing  materials,  chiefly  for  the  protection 
it  affords  the  metal  bands  that  are  wound  spirally  around  it  to  give 
it  strength ;  but  experiments  in  coating  the  inside  with  water-proof- 
ing have  ended  disastrously.  Pipes  so  treated  have  fallen  to  pieces 
from  decay  in  a  short  time.  That  result  is  due  to  the  exclusion  of 
water  from  the  pores  of  the  wood  by  the  interior  coating.  Con- 
siderably more  water  will  flow  through  a  wooden  pipe  than  through 
one  of  iron  or  steel  of  the  same  size,  because  wood  is  smoother  and 
friction  less.  This  is  true  when  both  wooden  and  metal  pipes  are 
new,  and  the  difference  in  favor  of  wood  increases  with  age.  The 
wooden  pipe  becomes  smoother  with  usage,  while  iron  and  steel  grow 
rough  with  accretions  and  the  bore  becomes  smaller. 

MISCELLANEOUS   USES. 

The  facility  with  which  white  pine  may  be  gilded  fits  it  for  picture 
and  mirror  frames.  Its  use  for  that  purpose  dates  back  more  than 
a  century. 

Its  use  for  heddles  in  cloth  factories  is  a  continuation  of  its  em- 
ployment for  a  similar  purpose  when  nearjy  every  country  house 
and  many  in  towns  had  looms  for  weaving  cloth.  It  was  the  white 
pine's  light  weight  that  fitted  it  for  that  place,  as  the  heddles  had  to 
be  lifted  or  lowered  for  every  thread  that  went  into  the  woof.  Its 
1  wide  use  for  warping  bars  was  for  the  same  reason.  That  appliance, 
on  which  the  thread  for  weaving  woolen,  linen,  and  cotton  cloth  was 
wound  preparatory  to  putting  it  in  the  loom,  was  in  most  farm- 
houses at  the  period  when  weaving  was  done  at  home,  but  it  has 
now  practically  disappeared  along  with  its  companion  pieces,  the 
rustic  loom  and  the  reel. 

In  the  white-pine  region,  chiefly  in  the  Lake  States,  the  wood  has 
a  number  of  uses  which  are  somewhat  local,  though  of  considerable 
importance,  and  are  due  largely  to  the  convenience  with  which  the 
wood  may  be  had.  Among  such  are  bodies  for  bobsleds  and  sleighs. 
Some  manufacturers  prefer  the  wood  above  others  for  that  purpose. 
It  forms  parts  of  windmills,  beds  for  farm  wagons,  scales  and  ap- 
pliances for  weighing  cattle  and  other  live  stock,  vats  of  various 
kinds,  sash  and  finish  for  hothouses,  wood  pulp,  ice  boxes,  trunks, 
and  spools  on  which  to  wind  wire  or  rope. 


52  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL,  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  some  of  the  sawmill  towns  of  Michigan,  where  sawdust  was 
superabundant,  it  was  turned  to  accoount  by  paving  streets  with  it, 
packing  it  down  as  a  macadam  road  is  built.  The  result  was  usually 
satisfactory. 

When  Minneapolis  laid  its  white-cedar  pavements  it  used  2-inch 
white-pine  planking  as  a  foundation  on  which  to  lay  the  blocks. 

Between  1860  and  1870  Brooklyn  paved  some  of  its  streets  with 
white  pine  blocks  which  had  been  dipped  in  coal  tar.  They  gave  an 
average  of  6  years'  service.  The  city  of  Toronto  laid  a  small 
amount  of  white-pine  pavement  in  1895,  but  found  it  a  less  satis- 
factory wood  for  that  purpose  than  the  northern  white  cedar. 

No  other  wood  equaling  white  pine  has  been  found  in  this  country 
for  pattern  making,  though  fairly  satisfactory  substitutes  have  been 
found  in  yellow  poplar,  redwood,  and  a  few  others.  The  pumpkin 
pine  was  the  best,  but  that  can  no  longer  be  had.  The  pattern  maker 
wants  a  soft,  solid  material,  and  spongy  woods  and  those  of  crooked 
grain  and  with  knots  will  not  do.  Modern  lumber  yards  supply 
little  that  meets  the  requirements,  because  old,  mature  trees  grown 
in  fertile  soil — the  kind  that  yielded  pattern  wood — are  now  very 
scarce.  Pattern  makers  buy  the  frames  of  old  mills  and  other 
buildings,  erected  and  perhaps  abandoned  20  to  40  years  ago  in 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  and  use  the  pine  beams  and  timbers.  The 
timbers  taken  from  old  mills  and  barns  in  northwestern  Pennsyl- 
vania have  been  put  to  the  same  purpose. 

White  pine  is  one  of  the  many  woods  manufactured  into  excelsior. 
It  also  furnishes  a  large  part  of  the  wood  made  into  matches  in  this 
country.  The  quickness  with  which  the  coal  dies  after  the  blaze  is 
extinguished  is  one  of  its  principal  recommendations  for  match 
making. 

Its  clear  grain  and  the  ease  with  which  it  may  be  cut  makes  it  a 
favorite  for  scroll  work  and  for  cornice  and  capital  decorations. 

White  pine  is  preferred  to  all  other  woods  for  the  bodies  of  chil- 
dren's wheelbarrows  and  for  hobbyhorses.  The  saving  of  a  few 
ounces  or  pounds  in  weight  in  toys  that  are  constantly  in  motion  is 
an  important  consideration.  The  seats*1  and  other  wooden  parts  of 
baby  buggies  and  children's  chairs,  stools,  carts,  and  swings  are 
frequently  of  white  pine. 

Its  softness  and  its  light  weight  are  properties  considered  in 
choosing  it  for  drawing  boards,  cutting  boards,  and  cloth  boards, 
penholders,  and  toys  of  many  kinds.  Snow  shovels,  protected  with 
metal  cutting  edges,  are  made  of  this  wood.  One  of  its  competitors 
in  this  field  is  butternut,  which  is  of  nearly  the  same  weight. 

It  is  used  in  making  shoe  racks,  a  kind  of  truck  employed  in  fac- 
tories and  large  stores  to  carry  shoes  from  one  part  of  the  building 
to  another. 


WHITE  PINE.  53 

White-pine  piano  keys  compete  for  first  place  with  basswood.  It 
has  other  uses  in  piano  and  organ  making,  and  for  some  purposes  is 
substituted  for  holly.  It  is  an  excellent  wood  for  pipes  in  church 
organs,  and  for  that  purpose  has  been  classed  with  the  sugar  pine  of 
California  and  the  southern  white  cedar  of  the  Atlantic  coast. 

Golf-goods  makers  find  it  useful,  though  for  very  different  pur- 
poses from  those  demanding  hickory,  ash,  and  elm.  It  goes  into 
racket  handles,  where  a  light-weight  wood  is  desired,  and  is  fre- 
quently a  competitor  with  red  cedar  for  that  purpose. 

Caskets  and  coffins  and  the  boxes  in  which  they  are  shipped  are 
manufactured  of  white  pine  in  many  instances.  It  is  used  also  in 
making  tobacco  boxes  and  for  the  bottoms  and  sash  of  show  cases. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

Considering  the  great  extent  of  the  white  pine  forests  and  the 
important  part  their  wood  has  played  in  the  industrial  development 
of  the  country,  the  by-products  are  few.  As  early  as  1672  a  law 
directed  that  the  Plymouth  Colony  should  make  10  barrels  of  tar  a 
year.  That  quantity  was  very  small,  and  probably  pitch  pine  con- 
tributed as  much  as  white  pine.  The  turpentine  or  resin  from  the 
tree  has  been  collected  in  a  small  way  as  a  domestic  remedy  for 
rheumatism,  ulcers,  burns,  frostbites,  cuts3  and  bruises,  but  the  medic- 
inal value  of  the  product  is  open  to  question.  Sometimes  the  macer- 
ated inner  bark  was  substituted  for  the  resin,  and  a  sirup  made  from 
it  was  believed  to  be  efficacious  in  the  treatment  of  whooping  cough. 
A  distillation  from  green  cones  was  once  believed  effective  in  remov- 
ing wrinkles  from  the  skin  if  applied  liberally  as  a  wash.  White 
pine  sawdust  is  frequently  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  porous 
bricks.  The  dust  is  mixed  with  the  clay  or  pulverized  shale  of  which 
the  bricks  are  made,  and  in  the  process  of  burning  the  heat  destroys 
the  sawdust  and  leaves  the  bricks  porous.  The  conversion  of  white 
pine  sawdust  into  gas  for  use  in  gas  engines  has  been  suggested,  but 
no  claim  is  made  that  it  is  better  than  the  sawdust  of  California  red- 
wood or  probably  several  other  woods.  The  ground  bark  has  been 
employed  as  an  astringent,  and  the  resin  is  recommended  as  an  in- 
gredient of  cough  sirup.  In  New  England,  and  perhaps  elsewhere, 
the  shavings  in  planing  mills  are  baled  and  sold  as  horse  bedding  in 
stables. 

DISEASES. 

The  diseases  and  injuries  to  which  the  white  pine  is  peculiarly 
liable  have  more  to  do  with  retarding  or  preventing  the  growth  of 
wood  than  in  damaging  it  after  it  has  grown.  Blight,  either  with 
or  without  fungus  attack,  occasionally  injures  growing  pine  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  its  region.  The  young  trees  have  thin  bark,  and  a 


54  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

moderate  forest  fire  damages  or  kills  them.  Wherever  white  pine 
forests  have  been  cut  fire  has  generally  followed  and  killed  the  young 
pines  that  sprouted  from  seeds  on  the  ground.  The  tree  does  not 
sprout  from  the  stump,  and  when  seed  trees  are  removed  and  the 
seedlings  already  on  the  ground  are  killed  by  fire,  as  frequently  hap- 
pened in  Michigan  and  elsewhere,  the  natural  growth  of  pine  in  that 
district  is  at  an  end. 

Direct  injury  to  pine  logs  and  lumber  results  from  attacks  of  sev- 
eral insect  enemies  which  may  kill  the  trees  or  perforate  the  trunks 
of  dead  timber  or  damage  sawlogs.  Much  injury  was  done  from 
1888  to  1893,  from  Maryland  to  North  Carolina,  by  a  bark  beetle 
(Dendroctonus  frontalis],  but  its  ravages  were  not  serious  after  that 
period.  The  pine  sawyer — so  named  from  the  grating  noise  it  makes 
as  it  eats  its  way  into  sawlogs — is  a  larva.  There  are  several  species. 
The  white  pine  weevil  bores  the  pith  of  twigs  and  makes  special 
attacks  on  terminal  shoots,  thereby  deforming  young  trees,  which,  on 
that  account,  though  they  may  attain  large  size,  are  unfitted  for 
high-grade  lumber. 

NORWAY  PINE  (Pinus  resinosa). 
PHYSICAL,  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 30.25  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity.— 0.485   (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.27  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 65  per  cent  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,800  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
67  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,605,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  76  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  not  strong,  moderately  soft ;  grain  rather 
coarse,  even,  and  straight;  compact;  annual  rings  rather  wide;  summerwood 
not  broad,  light  colored,  resinous;  resin  passages  few,  small,  not  conspicuous; 
medullary  rays  few,  thin ;  color  light  red,  the  sapwood  yellow  or  often  almost 
white ;  readily  worked  with  tools ;  not  durable  in  the  soil. 

Growth. — Diameter,  2  to  3  feet ;  height,  75  to  125  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  commercial  range  of  Norway  pine  lies  in  Michigan,  Minnesota, 
and  Wisconsin,  in  the  United  States,  and  in  the  Provinces  of  Canada. 
A  small  quantity  is  cut  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Eng- 
land. The  tree  is  known  also  as  red  pine,  hard  pine,  and  Canadian 
red  pine. 

The  supply  of  Norway  pine  in  the  United  States  and  across  the 
Canadian  border  is  much  smaller  than  formerly.  No  special  demand 
has  ever  been  made  upon  it,  as  was  the  case  with  white  pine,  yellow 
poplar,  and  black  walnut,  but  it  was  put  to  some  use  from  the  first 


NORWAY  PINE,  55 

settlement  of  the  region.  It  was  not  found  in  extensive  pure  forests, 
as  white  pine  was,  and  though  its  range  covered  1,500  miles  east  and 
west  and  300  or  400  north  and  south,  the  total  quantity  of  Norway 
pine  in  the  original  forests  was  comparatively  small.  The  supply 
now  comes  largely  from  Michigan,  Minnesota,  and  Wisconsin,  and 
Chicago  is  the  central  market.  Exports  which  formerly  found  their 
way  to  England,  but  which  are  small  now,  went  from  Canada  and 
Maine. 

Norway  pine  grows  with  fair  rapidity  and  is  not  exacting  in  its 
soil  requirements.  It  insists,  however,  upon  an  abundance  of  light, 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  unable  to  force  its  way  into  areas  where 
vigorous  trees  have  a  footing  or  to  hold  its  own  place  successfully 
against  trees  which  crowd  it.  This  has,  apparently,  relegated  it  to 
poor,  dry  land,  where  competing  species  grow  slowly  or  not  at  all. 
Experiments  have  demonstrated  that  Norway  pine  can  be  success- 
fully grown  in  plantations.  In  rate  of  growth  and  form  of  bole  it 
compares  favorably  with  white  pine  in  similar  situations.  It  pro- 
duces enormous  numbers  of  very  small  seed.  In  spite  of  this  fact  it 
has  not  held  its  ground  in  regions  where  it  was  formerly  abundant, 
and  it  is  not  counted  upon  to  figure  largely  in  the  country's  future 
supply  of  lumber. 

The  fact  that  Norway  pine  occupied  the  region  with  white  pine, 
and  was  cut  with  it,  and  the  lumber  of  the  two  species  went  to  market 
together,  and  usually  as  one,  resulted  in  relegating  Norway  pine  to 
an  obscure  place  far  below  its  worth.  White  pine  was  the  predomi- 
nant timber  of  the  region  and  attracted  most  of  the  attention  of  the 
buyers,  sellers,  operators,  and  all  persons  who  were  interested  in  the 
softwoods  of  the  Lake  States  and  the  pine  regions  farther  east. 
Nevertheless,  Norway  pine  was  an  important  source  of  timber.  It  was 
not  used  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  white  pine  was  employed,  but 
was  for  many  of  them.  In  presenting  a  list  of  its  uses,  the  white 
pine  list  will  answer  with  slight  change,  but  with  the  provision  that 
Norway  pine  fell  very  far  below  it  in  total  quantity.  In  high-grade 
wood  white  pine  was  likewise  ahead  of  it,  but  in  the  great  middle 
and  lower  field  of  usefulness  the  two  pines  did  service  side  by  side. 

SHIPBUILDING. 

This  wood  has  been  put  to  use  for  various  parts  in  shipbuilding  in 
this  country  and  in  England,  but  the  quantity  used  seems  to  have  been 
moderate.  A  century  ago  it  was  much  more  common  in  the  London 
market  and  in  the  dock  yards  on  the  west  coast  of  England  than  it  is 
now.  Decking  planks,  occasionally  40  feet  in  length,  were  cut  in 
Maine,  Canada,  or  from  timbers  shipped  across  the  Atlantic.  Wide 
planks  were  impossible,  because  the  Norway  pine  is  small,  and  ship- 
builders insisted  on  heart  with  no  sapwood.  This  was  necessary, 


56  USES   OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

because  the  sapwood  soon  changed  to  a  green  color,  due  to  fungus 
attack,  and  decay  followed.  The  wood  was  used,  and  still  is  used,  both 
in  this  country  and  in  Canada  and  England  for  masts,  spars,  and  deck 
plank.  The  wood  is  resinous  and  wears  well.  It  has  been  described 
as  midway  between  pitch  pine  and  white  pine.  It  is  seen  in  cabins 
and  fittings  of  vessels.  When  the  Canadian  French  made  a  beginning 
in  building  a  navy  in  the  early  history  of  that  country  they  selected 
Norway  pine  for  masts,  while  the  forests  contained  practically  unlim- 
ited supplies  of  other  timbers. 

The  use  of  this  timber  for  masts  in  former  years  when  it  was 
abundant  was  said  to  have  been  considerably  lessened  by  the  fact 
that  trunks  were  seldom  quite  straight.  Perfect  sticks  compared 
favorably  with  Danzic  and  Riga  pine,  and  as  late  as  1875  its  use  in 
the  British  navy  was  reported.1 

About  1895  the  city  of  Toronto  laid  a  number  of  woods  in  block 
pavement  to  test  the  lasting  properties  of  different  timbers  in  the 
untreated  state.  Norway  pine  was  so  used,  and  the  results  were 
favorable.  White  pine  and  Norway  pine  were  rated  equal — both 
were  below  northern  white  cedar,  but  above  hemlock,  sugar  maple, 
beech,  and  slippery  elm.  The  poorest  results  were  shown  by  the  elm.2 

Pump  makers  drew  supplies  from  Norway  pine  100  years  ago. 
Long,  clear  stock  could  be  had  without  sapwood.  The  wood  enters 
into  car  construction,  including  sills,  frames,  and  the  running  boards 
on  top  of  freight  cars.  It  is  sufficiently  hard  and  strong  for  flooring, 
girders,  joists,  windmills,  and  bridge  timbers.  It  makes  good  panels, 
but  is  occasionally  objected  to  for  doors  and  sash,  because  of  its 
tendency  to  warp  and  twist.  On  account  of  scarcity,  Norway  pine 
has  been  obliged  to  retire  from  uses  which  it  once  filled,  and  its  place 
has  been  taken  by  yellow  pine  and  cypress.  Norway  pine  has  been 
suggested  for  posts,  poles,  and  railway  ties  after  receiving  preserva- 
tive treatment  to  hinder  decay. 

Makers  of  agricultural  implements  employ  this  pine  for  many 
parts,  and  it  gives  good  service  as  sucker  rods  for  windmills,  and  also 
as  slats  and  fans  and  for  water  tanks. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

The  resin  content  of  Norway  pine  is  sufficient  to  attract  the  pro- 
ducer of  turpentine  and  pine  oil.  At  various  points  in  Canada  and 
in  the  United  States  distillation  plants  have  operated  on  Norway 
pine  stumps  for  these  products.  The  resinous  material  is  found  prin- 
cipally in  the  lower  portion  of  the  tree ;  the  part  left  in  the  stump  is 
in  fact  richer  in  these  materials  than  any  other  portion.  Because  of 

1  Timber  and  Timber  Trees,  Thomas  Laslett. 

8  Street  Pavements  and  Paving  Materials,  G.  W.  Tillson. 


JACK  PINE.  57 

this  fact  Norway  pine  stumps  have  resisted  decay,  and  now,  20  years 
following  cutting,  they  are  in  some  localities  being  pulled  up  and 
sent  to  the  distillation  plant.  On  arriving  there  they  are  washed 
clean  of  dirt  and  gravel,  and  then,  by  means  of  saws,  "  hogs,"  and 
shredders  are  reduced  to  small  particles  not  over  one-quarter  inch 
thick  and  an  inch  or  two  long.  By  a  blower  process  the  rotten  chaff 
and  remaining  dirt  are  separated  out.  The  remainder  is  then  ready 
for  the  steaming  and  extraction  process  by  which  the  turpentine,  oils, 
and  rosin  are  obtained.  The  fibrous  material,  not  being  destroyed,  is 
suitable  for  boiler  fuel  after  these  processes  are  completed.  It  is 
possible  even  that  this  material  may  be  further  utilized  in  making 
pulp  for  fiber  board. 

JACK  PINE  (Pinus  divaricata). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 29.7  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.48  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.23  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 64  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 9,100  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
57  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,332,000  pounds  per  square 
inch,  or  63  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong;  grain  fine;  annual  rings 
moderately  wide;  summerwood  not  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous;  resin  pas- 
sages few,  not  large;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  color  clear  light 
brown  or  rarely  orange,  the  thick  sapwood  almost  white ;  not  durable. 

Growth. — Height,  50  to  65  feet ;  diameter,  1  to  2  feet. 

SUPPLY    AND    USES. 

Among  the  names  by  which  this  tree  is  known  in  different  parts  of 
its  range  are  scrub  pine,  gray  pine,  princess  pine,  black-jack  pine, 
black  pine,  cypress,  Canada  horn-cone  pine,  chek  pine,  Sir  Joseph 
Banks  pine,  juniper,  and  Bank's  air  pine. 

There  is  little  probability  that  jack  pine  will  ever  take  its  place 
among  the  important  timber  trees  of  this  country.  Its  small  size 
alone  retires  it  to  a  secondary  place ;  yet  it  has  and  promises  to  have 
a  certain  value,  which  entitles  it  to  consideration.  The  tree  has 
attracted  considerable  attention  from  foresters,  who  see  in  it  the 
probable  means  of  covering  large  areas  of  sterile,  waste  land  on  which 
few  if  any  other  trees  will  grow.  Its  commercial  range  includes  the 
northern  tier  of  States  from  Maine  to  Minnesota  and  extends  as  far 
north  in  Canada  as  Hudson  Bay.  It  has  been  found  efficient  in  fix- 
ing the  drifting  sand  in  certain  parts  of  Michigan  where  the  original 
forests  were  cut  and  burned,  and  at  the  same  time  supplying  consid- 
erable wood  and  lumber  to  the  industries  of  the  region.  Jack  pine 


58  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OP   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

is  tenacious  of  life  and  grows  in  the  face  of  adverse  circumstances. 
In  can  maintain  itself  on  sand  and  send  its  roots  down  several  feet 
to  moisture,  while  it  thrives  on  land  with  the  water  table  very  near 
the  surface.  It  is  seldom  uprooted  even  by  the  most  violent  winds. 
In  early  life  its  growth  is  rapid,  but  it  matures  early.  Its  average 
term  of  life  is  probably  not  more  than  60  years.  In  that  time  it 
attains  a  diameter  fitting  it  for  railway  ties,  and  a  height  of  perhaps 
50  or  60  feet. 

Lumbermen  cut  the  jack  pine  to  a  diameter  of  4  inches,  and  saw 
the  logs  or  poles  into  bed  slats,  or  staves  for  nail  kegs,  or  plasterer's 
lath.  Thousands  of  cords  of  such  logs  go  to  the  factories  each  year 
and  meet  a  demand  which  must  otherwise  be  met  by  wood  of  higher 
grade.  Barrel  and  keg  headings  are  made  for  the  slack  cooperage 
industry,  and  box  factories  draw  supplies  in  large  quantities  from 
this  wood.  The  larger  logs  make  dimension  lumber,  while  in  some 
localities  fences,  including  posts  and  boards,  are  made  of  this  wood. 
It  is  an  important  source  of  fuel  in  many  parts  of  its  range. 

Jack  pine  contributes  to  the  country's  pulp  supply  for  the  manu- 
facture of  paper.  The  pulp  mills  in  the  Lake  States  have  made  con- 
siderable use  of  it  for  this  purpose,  for  which  it  appears  to  have 
about  the  same  value  as  the  scrub  pine  of  Virginia  and  Maryland. 
It  is  used  in  both  the  mechanical  and  chemical  processes  of  manu- 
facture. 

WESTERN  WHITE  PINE  (Pinus  monticola). 

PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 24.3  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.39  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.23  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 52  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 8,700  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
54  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,356,000  pounds  per 'square  inch, 
or  64  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong,  but  flexible,  grain  fine  and 
straight;  annual  rings  wide,  summerwood  thin,  slightly  resinous,  not  conspicu- 
ous ;  resin  passages  numerous,  not  large ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure ; 
color  light  brown  or  red,  the  sapwood  nearly  white ;  as  easily  worked  with  tools 
as  white  pine ;  heartwood  fairly  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Growth.— Height,  100  to  175  feet ;  diameter,  2^  to  3£  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

Among  the  names  by  which  this  tree  is  known  are  silver  pine, 
white  pine,  finger-cone  pine,  mountain  pine,  soft  pine,  little  sugar 
pine,  mountain  Weymouth  pine,  and  western  white  pine.  The  last 
name  is  most  widely  used,  and  distinguishes  it  from  the  white  pine 
of  the  East.  Its  commercial  range  lies  in  California,  Idaho,  Mon- 


WESTEKN   WHITE   PINE.  59 

tana,  Oregon,  and  Washington.  The  largest  cut  is  credited  to  Idaho, 
with  Washington  and  Montana  following.  It  grows  in  Oregon  and 
California,  but  comparatively  small  quantities  are  cut  there.  It  is 
found  on  the  high  parts  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Range,  in  some  lo- 
calities running  up  to  altitudes  of  10,000  feet  or  more,  but  the  timber 
which  grows  at  that  altitude  is  not  usually  of  a  quality  suitable  for 
commercial  purposes.  The  drain  upon  the  forests  of  Idaho  has  in- 
creased in  recent  years,  and  in  1908  the  cut  of  this  pine  exceeded 
the  output  of  the  year  before  by  more  than  36  million  feet.  Esti- 
mates of  the  total  available  supply  in  the  United  States  have  not 
been  carefully  made.  The  tree  seldom  grows  in  pure  stands,  though 
sometimes  it  predominates  over  associated  species.  Usually,  how- 
ever, it  forms  a  low  per  cent  of  the  forest  in  which  it  is  found. 
Throughout  the  northern  part  of  Idaho  it  makes  the  best  growth  of 
all  species,  and  produces  the  bulk  of  the  merchantable  timber.  The 
yield  is  greater  also  than  that  of  any  other  tree.  Mr.  F.  G.  Rock- 
well, of  the  Forest  Service,  reports  that  in  1910  he  found  fully 
stocked  stands  of  western  white  pine  which  contained  over  130,000 
feet  b.  m.  per  acre.  The  timber  was  all  140  years  old,  with  an  average 
height  of  130  feet. 

USES. 

Western  white  pine  is  f  3  most  valuable  species  in  Montana  and 
Idaho.  It  serves  fairly  well  as  a  substitute  for  the  white  pine  of 
the  east  for  a  number  of  purposes.  The  western  species  is  a  little 
heavier,  has  a  slightly  higher  per  cent  ol  ash,  its  fuel  value  is  a  little 
more,  its  strength  is  a  little  less,  but  in  stiffness  it  surpasses  the 
eastern  white  pine  by  12  per  cent.  It  is  claimed  that  the  eastern 
wood  surpasses  the  western  in  durability. 

The  tree  has  been  used  within  its  range  since  the  settlement  of  the 
region  began.  Trunks  of  large  size  in  Idaho  were  occasionally  made 
into  split  shakes  or  clapboards  for  roofing  cabins  and  barns,  but  the 
wood  was  not  liked  as  well  for  that  purpose  as  cedar,  and  was  pressed 
into  use  only  when  cedar  was  not  to  be  had. 

Considerable  quantities  of  western  white  pine  have  been  employed 
for  mine  timbers  in  that  region,  and  in  some  localities  it  served  as 
fence  material  in  building  stock  corrals  and  in  inclosing  pastures  and 
grain  fields.  Miners  make  use  of  it  for  stulls,  lagging,  flumes,  water 
tanks,  sluice  boxes,  water  pipes,  rifle  blocks,  rockers,  and  guides  for 
stamp  mills,  for  some  of  these  purposes  giving  it  preference  over 
other  timbers.  The  chief  demands  for  it,  however,  are  in  distant 
markets,  and  comparatively  small  amounts  are  used  in  the  region  of 
production.  It  is  a  substitute  for  the  white  pine,  and  for  that 
reason  it  seeks  markets  which  the  white  pine  of  the  East  formerly 
held.  It  is  bought  by  planing  mills  and  manufacturing  establish- 


60  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

ments  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  further  East,  for  all  classes  of 
planing-mill  stock,  including  flooring,  ceiling,  finish,  siding,  sheath- 
ing, shelving,  doors,  sashes,  panels,  columns,  lattice,  pantry  work,  and 
a  long  list  of  other  forms.  It  is  claimed  that  in  some  instances  sash 
factories  buy  rough  lumber  in  the  Eocky  Mountain  region,  have  it 
shipped  to  Chicago  or  some  other  manufacturing  center,  make  win- 
dows of  it,  and  sell  them  in  the  region,  perhaps  the  very  town, 
whence  the  rough  lumber  came.  This  is  made  possible  by  the  fact 
that  glass  is  manufactured  in  the  East,  and  the  large  sash  factories 
locate  near  the  glass  supply.  In -some  instances,  but  less  frequently 
than  in  the  case  of  sash,  western  white  pine  doors  are  made  in  dis- 
tant cities  and  are  shipped  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  to  be  sold 
near  where  the  wood  grew. 

In  the  region  where  this  white  pine  grows  in  proximity  to  mer- 
chantable Douglas  fir  and  western  yellow  pine,  it  finds  few  buyers, 
because  the  other  woods  undersell  it.  In  some  instances  the  fir  and 
yellow  pine  shipped  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  farther  west  are 
sold  at  a  lower  price  than  the  white  pine,  and  have  crowded  the 
latter  out  of  its  home  market.  It  finds  sale,  however,  farther  east, 
where  its  chief  competitor  is  the  white  pine  cut  in  the  Lake  States. 
Thus  the  spectacle  is  presented  of  Pacific  coast  lumber  entering  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  and  driving  a  native  lumber  from  that 
market,  and  the  displaced  commodity,  in  its  turn,  competing  success- 
fully in  the  eastern  market  with  a  splendid  wood  of  the  East. 

The  western  white  pine  has  a  wide  market,  won  and  held  on  its 
merit.  It  is  shipped  as  far  east  as  Boston,  is  in  demand  south  of  the 
Ohio  River,  enters  the  principal  markets  of  the  Central  States,  and 
is  used  for  orange  boxes  in  California,  though  the  amount  so  used  is 
not  large.  A  considerable  quantity  of  it  has  been  exported  to  Aus- 
tralia. The  total  yearly  output  of  western  white  pine  lumber  prob- 
ably exceeds  150,000,000  board  feet.  Much  of  it  goes  into  rough 
construction,  but  a  large  amount  is  used  for  other  purposes.  Fac- 
tories making  window  blinds  and  shutters  use  this  wood  because  of 
its  light  weight  and  its  comparative  freedom  from  resin,  decay,  and 
other  defects.  It  finishes  nicely  and  paints  well.  The  same  qualities 
recommend  it  for  doors,  window  frames,  and  finish,  both  inside  and 
out.  It  has  been  pronounced  as  good  for  picture  frames,  cabinet  work, 
veneer  backing,  pyrography,  baskets,  and  all  classes  of  woodenware, 
and  other  plain  and  ornamental  molding  as  the  eastern  white  pine. 
It  finds  a  place  in  undertaking  establishments  in  the  manufacture 
of  burial  boxes,  in  which  the  casket  or  coffin  is  placed.  It  has  some 
use  for  shipping  boxes  for  fruit  and  merchandise,  but  such  use  has 
not  yet  become  important,  because  in  the  fruit-growing  sections  of 
the  regions  where  this  tree  grows,  as  well  as  farther  east,  other  woods 
are  cheaper.  Conditions  very  similar  lessen  its  use  for  large  packing 


WESTERN   YELLOW   PINE.  61 

boxes  in  the  manufacturing  districts  of  the  East.  Cheaper  woods 
grown  near  by  supply  the  boxes  in  which  merchandise  is  sent  to 
market. 

Pattern  makers  have  drawn  suitable  material  for  their  wares  from 
western  white  pine.  It  meets  the  requirements  fairly  well,  being 
soft,  light,  and  easily  cut  across  the  grain  as  well  as  with  it ;  but  it  is 
not  usually  considered  the  equal  of  the  white  pine  of  the  East  for 
this  purpose,  nor  has  it  been  able  to  compete  as  a  pattern  wood  in  the 
Pacific  coast  region  with  redwood,  sugar  pine,  and  western  red  cedar. 

WESTERN  YELLOW  PINE  (Pinus  ponderosa). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood.— 29.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.47   (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 63  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,100  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
63  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,209,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  57  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Rather  light,  not  strong,  grain  fine,  even,  often 
twisted ;  annual  rings  variable  in  width,  summerwood  broad  or  narrow,  resin- 
ous; resin  passages  medium  and  rather  numerous;  medullary  rays  not  numer- 
ous, prominent ;  color  light  to  reddish,  thick  sapwood  almost  white ;  not  durable 
in  untreated  condition,  but  readily  receives  treatment. 

Growth. — Height,  100  to  200  feet;  diameter,  3  to  7  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  total  stand  of  western  yellow  pine  in  the  United  States  in  1909 
has  been  estimated  at  275  billion  feet  b.  m.  Douglas  fir  was  the  only 
species  showing  a  greater  total,  and  the  southern  longleaf  pine  was 
next  below.  The  four  southern  yellow  pines  together  were  estimated 
at  110  billion  feet  more  than  western  yellow  pine.  White  pine  and 
Norway  pine  together  amounted  to  only  one-fourth  the  quantity  of 
this  western  timber.  In  amount  it  is  more  than  half  the  estimated 
combined  stumpage  of  all  the  hardwoods  in  the  United  States.1 

Few  trees  have  a  commercial  range  as  wide  as  that  of  the  western 
yellow  pine.  It  has  its  best  development  on  the  Pacific  coast,  but  it 
covers  one-third  of  the  United  States.  It  is  cut  in  Arizona,  Cali- 
fornia, Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Oregon, 
South  Dakota,  Utah,  Washington,  and  Wyoming,  and  is  found  to  a 
smaller  extent  over  a  considerably  wider  area.  In  1908  the  largest 
output  was  in  California,  followed  by  Oregon  and  Montana  in  the 
order  named.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  separate  the  cut  of  this 
species  from  other  pines  of  the  region,  because  in  many  cases  they  are 

1  Forest  Service  Circular  166,  The  Timber  Supply  of  the  United  States ;  also  report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Corporations  on  the  Lumber  Industry,  1911. 


62  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

reported  as  one.  The  tree  has  a  number  of  names  by  which  it  is 
known  in  different  localities,  among  them  bull  pine,  big  pine,  long- 
leaved  pine,  red  pine,  pitch  pine,  heavy  wrooded  pine,  western  pitch 
pine,  heavy  pine,  foothills  yellow  pine,  Sierra  brown  bark  pine,  Mon- 
tana black  pine,  and  California  white  pine.  Some  of  these  names  are 
also  applied  to  entirely  different  pines.  Occupying  as  it  does  a  range 
so  extensive,  with  climates  and  soils  differing,  the  western  yellow  pine 
does  not  present  the  same  appearance  and  the  same  characteristics 
everywhere. 

The  enormous  total  supply  of  western  yellow  pine  is  not  the  only 
factor  in  its  importance.  It  is  practically  the  only  timber  in  ex- 
tensive regions,  where  its  value  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  Next 
to  incense  cedar  and  the  big  tree,  it  is  the  most  prolific  seed  bearer 
of  the  western  conifers,  and  its  seeds  are  sufficiently  light  to  insure 
their  wide  distribution.  This  is  one  of  the  factors  which  gives  the 
species  its  power  to  reproduce  in  the  face  of  obstacles  which  stunt  or 
kill  some  of  the  trees  associated  with  it.  The  species  is  gaining 
ground  within  its  range.  It  takes  possession  of  vacant  areas  which 
have  been  bared  by  lumbering,  fire,  or  other  cause,  and  is  usually 
able  to  hold  its  ground.  In  some  cases  it  crowds  out  and  kills  the 
more  stately  sugar  pine,  because  the  latter  succumbs  more  readily  if 
its  supply  of  light  is  seriously  interfered  with.  It  resists  fire  better 
than  most  of  the  forest  trees  with  which  it  is  associated,  and  this 
gives  it  a  decided  advantage.  On  the  other  hand,  it  suffers  from 
insect  enemies  more  than  its  associates,  and  in  some  localities  this  is  a 
serious  drawback.  A  beetle  (Dendroctonus  ponderosw)  sometimes 
destroys  large  stands.  An  estimate  made  in  1903  placed  the  beetle- 
killed  timber  in  the  Black  Hills,  S.  Dak.,  at  600  million  feet. 
That  was  twenty  times  the  amount  of  this  species  cut  in  South 
Dakota  in  1908.  The  enormous  numbers  of  these  beetles  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  10,000  have  been  found  in  a  single  tree  8 
inches  in  diameter,  while  a  tree  30  inches  in  diameter  has  been  esti- 
mated to  contain  200,000. 

The  wood  of  the  beetle-killed  timber  turns  blue,  owing  to  the 
presence  of  a  fungus  that  enters  through  the  holes  made  by  the 
beetles.  The  bluing  commences  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
holes  and  spreads  rapidly  through  the  wrood,  which  is  not  damaged 
immediately,  except  that  its  color  is  objectionable,  but  decay  is  liable 
to  follow  the  bluing.  This  pine  occasionally  suffers  from  the  attacks 
of  two  other  beetles,  and  much  of  the  stand  in  small  areas  is  killed. 
These  are  the  mountain  pine  beetle  (Dendroctonus  monticolce)  and 
the  western  pine  beetle  (Dendroctonus  "bremcomis) .  A  fungus  called 
red  rot  sometimes  does  considerable  damage  to  standing  timber. 


WESTERN   YELLOW   PINE.  63 

EARLY  USES. 

The  western  yellow  pine  was  one  of  the  earliest  woods  of  the  far 
West  to  be  employed  as  mine  props,  and  in  many  localities  met  the 
whole  demand.  The  timber  was  sufficiently  strong  for  the  purpose, 
and  the  supply  was  usually  abundant.  Quartz  mills  for  crushing  the 
ores  accompanied  the  underground  mining  operations,  and  in  most 
cases  steam  engines  furnished  the  power.  The  fuel  was  wood  cut 
from  the  surrounding  hills  and  canyons,  and  this  pine  supplied  a 
large  part  of  it.  A  single  mine  sometimes  stripped  hundreds  of  acres 
for  fuel  and  props. 

This  timber  performed  an  important  part  in  railroad  building  on 
the  western  mountains  and  plateaus.  The  procuring  of  ties  and 
bridge  and  trestle  timbers  was  frequently  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  to  be  solved  by  the  engineers.  The  forests  of  western  yellow 
pine  were  drawn  upon  in  many  places  where  no  other  wood  was  avail- 
able. In  1869,  when  the  Kansas  &  Pacific  Railroad  was  building, 
yellow-pine  ties  and  bridge  timbers  were  cut  in  Colorado  and  hauled 
by  teams  long  distances  eastward  into  Kansas.  The  Colorado  South- 
ern Railroad  and  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  were  built  to  a  large 
extent  with  yellow-pine  ties  cut  in  Colorado. 

Western  yellow  pine  is  coming  into  use  among  the  electrical  com- 
panies of  southern  California^  for  telephone  poles.  The  wood,  which 
is  sufficiently  strong,  had  been  ruled  out  in  the  past  on  the  ground 
of  insufficient  durability.  Methods  of  treating  the  butts  of  the  poles 
with  preservatives  have  been  developed  which  are  doing  away  with 
this  difficulty.  There  are  numerous  stands  of  young  timber  through- 
out the  range  of  the  tree  which  are  of  just  the  right  size  for  pole 
purposes. 

During  the  Civil  War  the  turpentine  supply  from  the  South  was 
cut  off,  and  the  extraordinary  demand  for  it  and  the  high  price  stim- 
ulated the  industry  wherever  yellow  pine  could  be  found  in  sufficient 
quantity.  The  extensive  yellow-pine  forests  on  the  sides  and  summits 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  in  Butte  and  Tehama  Counties,  Cal., 
were  boxed  and  the  business  was  profitable  for  a  time.  After  the  close 
of  the  war  the  southern  forests  became  available  and  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada pineries  were  abandoned  by  turpentine  gatherers.  The  boxing 
caused  great  injury  to  the  trees,  and  40  years  afterwards  the  trunks 
had  not  recovered. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

Westerr  yellow  pine  has  uses  ranging  from  the  coarsest  construc- 
tion to  highly  finished  products.  House  frames,  beams,  joists,  rafters, 
sills,  sheathing,  and  studding  are  cut  in  all  workable  dimensions.  It 


64  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL,  WOOI>S   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

is  heavier  and  stronger  than, eastern  white  pine  or  the  sugar  pine  of 
the  far  West.  In  some  respects,  chiefly  in  appearance,  its  wood  bears 
considerable  resemblance  to  both.  The  building  of  flumes  to  lead 
water  along  the  faces  of  steep  mountains  and  across  sandy  tracts, 
for  floating  timber,  operating  mines,  and  for  irrigation,  calls  for  very 
large  quantities  of  wood,  and  yellow  pine  meets  much  of  the  demand. 
It  frequently  grows  in  the  regions  where  the  flumes  are  built,  and  for 
that  reason  it  is  the  cheapest  and  most  convenient  material  available. 

It  fills  an  important  place  as  a  fencing  material,  being  occasionally 
but  not  frequently  used  for  posts,  and  more  often  as  boards  and 
pickets.  It  gives  good  service  as  bridge  timbers,  and  in  many  regions 
it  is  the  best  obtainable  for  bridge  floors,  though  for  this  purpose 
it  is  inferior  to  nearly  all  species  of  oak  and  to  Douglas  fir  and 
western  hemlock.  It  furnishes  sidewalks  in  many  towns  where  wood 
is  the  only  available  material.  As  plasterer's  lath  it  meets  a  large 
demand.  In  some  regions,  especially  in  Colorado,  it  is  made  into 
shingles. 

This  pine  loses  2,000  pounds  in  weight  per  1,000  feet  b.  m.  in  the 
process  of  seasoning.  The  lumber  is  widely  exported,  and  reaches 
New  Zealand,  Australia,  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  the  Continent 
of  Europe,  and  elsewhere. 

Some  of  the  finished  products  of  the  wood,  notably  sashes  and 
blinds,  are  sold  both  at  home  and  abroad  as  white  pine.  Planing 
mills  that  manufacture  flooring  and  ceiling  obtain  some  of  their 
best  lumber  from  western  yellow-pine  yards.  It  is  often  known  as 
California  white  pine,  and  is  made  into  several  kinds  of  interior 
finish,  molding,  spindles,  balusters,  railing,  panels,  newels,  brackets, 
chair  boards,  and  frames.  The  wood  is  now  shipped  as  far  east  as 
Wisconsin  to  be  made  into  these  products.  It  is  one  of  the  woods 
employed  by  pattern  makers,  though  it  is  not  generally  considered 
equal  to  white  pine  for  that  purpose. 

The  match  factories  draw  some  of  their  supplies  from  this  wood 
in  northern  California. 

It  is  an  important  box  material  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  is  widely 
used  in  packing  establishments  as  far  east  as  the  Mississippi.  It 
competes  successfully  with  sugar  pine  and  western  white  pine  for 
boxes  in  which  to  ship  fruit.  Large  quantities  of  lemons,  oranges, 
apples,  peaches,  raisins,  prunes,  cherries,  and  other  products  of  the 
orchards  and  vineyards  of  the  far  West  and  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region  reach  the  consumer  in  boxes  of  this  pine. 

Slack  coopers  employ  it  in  manufacturing  buckets,  kegs,  and  bar- 
rels for  shipping  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  it  is  also  used  for  barrels 
to  contain  certain  fluids,  but  not  for  alcoholic  liquors. 


SUGAR  PINE.  65 

SUGAR  PINE  (Pinus  lambertiana). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 23.0  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.37  (Sargent). 

Ash.— 0.22  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 49  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 8,400  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
52  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,0^6,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  52  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Very  light,  soft,  not  strong;  grain  coarse  and 
straight;  growth  rings  wide;  summerwood  thin,  resinous,  conspicuous;  resin 
passages  numerous,  very  large;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  color  light 
brown,  sapwood  nearly  white ;  easily  worked  with  tools. 

Grow M.— Height,  150  to  275  feet ;  diameter,  5  to  10  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  botanical  range  of  sugar  pine  extends  from  southern  Oregon 
to  Lower  California  in  a  comparatively  narrow  strip  about  1,000 
miles  long.  This  pine  is  known  also  as  big  pine,  shade  pine,  great 
sugar  pine,  gigantic  pine,  and  purple-coned  sugar  pine.  The  tree  is 
not  cut  for  lumber  in  any  considerable  amount  in  more  than  half  its 
range.  In  Oregon *  it  has  been  cut  for  lumber  during  50  years,  but 
the  bulk  of  the  output  has  been  in  California.  In  1900  the  cut  was 
about  52,000,000  feet;  in  1904  it  was  placed  at  120,000,000;  in  190T, 
at  115,000,000;  and  in  1908,  at  about  100,000,000.  In  the  last  year 
named  Oregon  supplied  7  per  cent  of  the  total.  Practically  the  entire 
California  output  comes  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  and  is 
cut  in  regions  where  the  annual  precipitation  is  40  inches  or  more. 
The  sugar  pine  thrives  best  on  well-drained  ridges  and  flats  when 
the  rainfall  is  plentiful.  In  Oregon  its  range  comes  down  within 
1,000  feet  of  sea  level;  but  the  limit  gradually  rises  toward  the  south 
along  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  until  southern  California  is 
reached,  where  not  much  of  the  timber  is  found  below  an  altitude  of 
8,000  to  10,000  feet. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  total  stand  of  sugar  pine,  since  it 
never  forms  pure  forests.  It  is  regarded  about  the  average  if  it  con- 
stitutes 25  per  cent  of  the  growth  in  any  region.  The  stand  in  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon  has  been  estimated  at  from  25  to  30  billion  feet. 

xThe  discovery  of  the  sugar  pine  affords  the  same  interest  to  the  botanist  that  the 
discovery  of  the  planet  Neptune  presents  to  the  astronomer — both  were  discovered  before 
they  were  seen.  David  Douglas  found  seeds  in  the  pocket  of  an  Indian  in  Oregon  nearly 
100  years  ago  and  at  once  saw  that  they  belonged  to  an  unknown  tree.  Following  the 
directions  given  by  Indians,  he  traveled  many  miles  over  mountains  and  valleys  and  was 
rewarded  by  discovering  the  largest  pine  In  the  world.  He  measured  a  fallen  trunk  that 
had  been  245  feet  high  and  18  feet  in  diameter  3  feet  from  the  ground. 

The  authors  have  been  unable  to  learn  of  any  trees  observed  in  recent  years  which 
were  anything  near  the  size  of  that  reported  by  Douglas. 

101500°— Bull.  99—11 5 


66  USES   OF   COMMEKCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

If  that  turns  out  to  be  correct,  it  would  supply  for  250  years  the 
output  at  the  present  rate.  Those,  however,  who  have  witnessed  the 
cutting  of  sugar  pine  during  the  past  20  or  30  years  express  doubts  as 
to  the  continuance  of  the  supply  far  into  the  future. 

Sugar  pine  does  not  reproduce  with  vigor.  The  yellow  pine  (Pinus 
ponderosa),  with  which  it  is  associated  throughout  nearly  all  of  its 
range,  is  often  able  to  crowd  it  out  in  clean  cuttings,  or  in  other 
places  where  young  growth  is  taking  the  place  of  the  old.  The  sugar 
pine's  seeds  ripen  the  second  year,  and  the  cones,  which  sometimes 
exceed  20  inches  in  length,  fall  the  third  year  or  later.  The  short 
wing  with  which  the  seed  is  equipped  is  too  small  to  carry  the  burden 
far,  and  a  sugar  pine  seldom  scatters  its  seeds  more  than  200  feet. 
The  failure  of  the  sugar  pine  to  reproduce  is  no  doubt  often  due  to 
squirrels,  since  in  average  years  they  consume  most  of  the  seeds,  leav- 
ing few  to  germinate.  The  young  trees  endure  considerable  shade, 
which  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  get  a  start  when  mixed  with 
other  species;  but  as  they  attain  greater  size  they  become  intolerant, 
demand  much  light,  and  decline  in  growth  if  they  do  not  receive  it. 
Mature  trees  have  a  long,  smooth  trunk,  with  comparatively  little 
taper  and  from  which  a  high  percentage  of  clear  lumber  may  be  cut. 
Young  trees  are  liable  to  be  injured  or  killed  if  they  pass  through  a 
forest  fire,  but  older  timber  is  protected  by  its  thick  bark.  Repeated 
fires,  however,  ultimately  injure  the  trunks.  Occasionally  5  or  10 
per  cent  of  a  tree  is  wasted  on  account  of  a  fire-hollowed  butt. 

Few  sugar  pines  are  uprooted  by  the  wind,  and  the  tree  is  com- 
paratively free  from  attack  by  fungus.  Very  small  trees  occasionally 
suffer  from  mistletoe  (Arceutkobium  occidentale}.  The  tree  attains 
large  size ;  specimens  have  been  reported  20  feet  in  diameter  and  300 
feet  high,  but  a  sugar  pine  10  feet  in  diameter  is  seldom  seen  even  in 
forests  that  have  never  been  culled,  and  a  height  of  250  feet  is  rare. 

EARLY   USES. 

The  use  of  sugar  pine  in  California  began  soon  after  the  discovery 
of  gold.  The  early  stockmen  and  ranchers  did  not  draw  much  upon 
the  mountain  forests,  for  the  double  reason  that  they  used  little  lum- 
ber upon  their  fenceless  domain  and  that  few  roads  then  Ted  into  the 
mountains.  Sugar  pine  grew  well  back  in  the  ranges  and  was  incon- 
venient if  not  inaccessible.  The  rapid  increase  of  population  follow- 
ing the  discovery  of  gold  called  for  buildings,  and  roof  material  was 
in  demand.  In  California  there  were  only  two  woods  which  answered 
the  latter  purpose  well — redwood  and  sugar  pine.  The  two  timbers 
grew  in  widely  separated  regions,  the  redwood  along  the  northwest- 
ern coast  and  the  sugar  pine  on  the  mountains  from  100  to  200  miles 
inland.  The  region  near  enough  to  the  redwoods  to  draw  supplies 
from  them  without  railroads  was  beyond  the  reach  of  sugar  pine; 


SUGAR   PINE.  67 

while  the  people  who  could  procure  the  pine  were  too  far  away  from 
the  redwrood  to  make  much  use  of  it.  For  that  reason  there  was  not 
much  competition  between  the  two  woods.  Sugar  pine  roofed  the 
shacks  in  a  region  500  miles  long. 

The  making  of  shakes  became  an  important  occupation  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  shake  is  a  split,  unshaved  shingle,  usually  30 
inches  long  and  from  4  to  6  inches  wide,  and  seldom  more  than  half 
and  often  only  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick.  Thinness  was  regarded  as 
a  virtue  rather  than  a  fault  so  long  as  the  shake  had  enough  body  to 
keep  out  the  water.  In  early  days  the  shake  maker  bought  no  timber, 
but  took  it  without  leave  or  license  from  Government  land.  The 
shake  maker  was  wasteful.  Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances 
the  timber  felled  was  seldom  half  used,  and  often  after  trees  that 
would  saw  10,000  or  20,000  feet  of  lumber  were  cut  down  they  were 
left  to  rot  in  the  woods  because  their  splitting  properties  were  poor. 
The  men  who  worked  at  this  occupation  usually  went  in  parties  of 
two  or  four,  made  a  camp  in  the  pineries,  and  spent  the  summer 
within  a  radius  of  200  or  300  yards.  Four  or  five  good  trees  afforded 
a  season's  work. 

As  the  settlements  increased  in  the  valleys  within  40  or  50  miles 
from  the  pineries,  demand  grew  for  lumber  other  than  shakes.  Prim- 
itive sheds  and  shanties  could  be  made  of  shakes,  including  sides  and 
roofs,  with  the  earth  for  a  floor,  but  more  pretentious  barns  and  resi- 
dences demanded  lumber,  and  early  in  California  history  the  sawmill 
made  its  appearance.  It  did  not,  however,  displace  the  shake  maker, 
for  he  continued  to  provide  roofing,  and  shakes  served  to  cover  sub- 
stantial buildings  on  ranches  and  to  some  extent  in  the  towns.  But 
the  shake  makers  were  among  the  first  to  be  singled  out  by  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  unlawful  cutting  of  its  timber,  and  the  seizure  of  shakes 
representing  a  summer's  work  was  not  unusual.  This  discouraged 
those  who  were  illegally  cutting  timber,  and  the  maker  of  shakes  lost 
half  his  foothold.  Shake  making  from  sugar  pine,  however,  is  still 
going  on  to  some  extent. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

Sawmills  and  other  manufacturing  machinery  were  early  brought 
into  use  in  the  California  sugar-pine  regions.  Some  of  the  earliest 
sawmills  did  not  cut  sugar  pine,  but  within  four  or  five  years  after 
gold  was  discovered  steam  mills  were  located  in  the  sugar-pine  belt 
and  were  sawing  lumber  for  flumes,  sluice  boxes,  bridges,  houses, 
barns,  fences,  and  for  other  purposes.  The  quantity  of  lumber  de- 
manded by  mines  was  very  small  compared  with  ranch  and  town  de- 
mands. The  pioneer  millmen  followed  the  example  of  the  pioneer 
shake  makers  and  cut  convenient  timber  without  obtaining  the  Gov- 
ernment's consent.  It  would  have  been  difficult  at  that  time,  however, 


68  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

to  obtain  permission  from  anyone  in  authority,  for  the  mountain 
lands,  where  the  sugar  pine  grew,  had  not  been  surveyed. 

More  sugar  pine  was  cut  in  that  way  in  the  Sierras  than  of  all 
other  woods  combined,  for  it  was  lighter  and  softer  than  the  yellow 
pine  and  better  than  the  fir.  Another  species  drawn  upon  largely, 
under  the  assumption  that  the  Government  would  not  protest,  was 
the  incense  cedar  for  fence  posts.  The  value  of  those  two  woods — 
pine  and  cedar — in  the  development  of  the  region  within  reach  of 
the  Sierra  timber  belt  can  scarcely  be  estimated.  Teams  toiled  up 
the  steep  grades  to  altitudes  of  from  4,000  to  6,000  feet,  and  hauled 
the  fencing  and  building  material  from  the  mountain  mills  to  the 
valleys  below,  often  to  a  distance  of  40,  50,  and  even  100  miles.  That 
was  before  railroads  brought  in  lumber  from  other  regions. 

Shingle  mills  quickly  followed  sawmills  to  the  sugar  pine  forests, 
and  shakes  gave  place  to  shingles  on  the  better  class  of  buildings. 
As  the  fruit  industry  began  to  develop,  producing  raisins  and  oranges, 
the  box  factory  came  to  meet  the  new  demand.  At  first,  while  good 
timber  was  plentiful  and  cheap,  the  box  maker  used  all  grades,  but 
preferred  the  best ;  but  later  the  price  went  up  on  the  good  grades, 
and  the  makers  of  boxes  drew  more  largely  upon  lower  grades.  Some 
of  the  factories  located  in  the  timber  belt  and  cut  all  kinds  and  all 
grades,  manufacturing  from  the  stump.  Others  bought  cheap  lum- 
ber from  sawmills  and  carried  on  no  logging  operations.  Sugar 
pine  is  a  favorite  wood  for  raisin  boxes,  not  only  because  it  is  hand- 
some and  light,  but  because  it  imparts  no  taste  or  odor  to  articles 
packed  in  it.  Some  mills  make  a  specialty  of  raisin  boxes;  others 
work  their  entire  output  into  raisin  trays — little  portable  platforms 
weighing  a  pound  or  more — on  which  the  grapes  are  sun  dried  in 
the  vineyards  where  they  grow. 

Sugar  pine  is  a  substitute  for  the  eastern  white  pine  for  many 
purposes.  The  two  woods  are  much  alike  in  appearance  and  prop- 
erties. White  pine  has  about  the  same  weight  per  cubic  foot,  has  a 
slightly  higher  fuel  value  and  considerably  more  elasticity,  and  is 
lower  in  ash.  The  lists  of  uses  are  much  the  same,  but  the  amount 
of  white  pine  manufactured  in  1908  was  thirty-three  times  that  of 
sugar  pine.  The  latter  wood  is  shipped  into  the  white  pine  region, 
where  it  sells  at  about  the  same  price  as  white  pine.  It  enters  all 
the  leading  markets  of  New  England  and  the  Middle  States. 

Pattern  makers  still  place  white  pine  above  all  other  woods  in 
their  business,  but  sugar  pine  is  a  close  second,  and  some  would  make 
it  equal.  Large  quantities  of  sugar  pine  are  made  into  matches  in 
California,  and  it  serves  the  slack  cooperage  makers  well,  and  also 
the  manufacturers  of  woodenware.  It  has  a  place  in  boat  building, 
largely  for  decking.  Planing  mills  work  it  into  molding,  panels, 
posts,  railing,  and  other  interior  finish,  as  well  as  blinds,  sash,  doors, 


LODGEPOLE  PINE.  69 

frames,  and  stair  work.  It  is  made  into  carvers'  and  cutters'  boards, 
wash  trays,  and  bakers'  troughs.  Its  freedom  from  odor  fits  it  for 
druggists'  drawers  and  for  the  compartments  in  which  grocers 
keep  spice,  coffee,  tea,  rice,  and  other  provisions.  The  wood's  straight 
grain  qualifies  it  for  service  as  pipes  in  church  organs.  Compara- 
tively few  woods  are  satisfactory  for  this  purpose.  Among  the  others 
are  white  pine  and  white  cedar. 

The  claim  has  been  made  for  sugar  pine  that  it  is  preferable  to 
white  pine  for  doors  and  sliding  sash  because  it  shrinks  and  swells 
less,  and  holds  its  shape  better.  Boat  builders  hold  that  its  behavior 
in  salt  water  is  equal  to  that  of  the  best  woods. 

This  tree  is  named  from  a  product  resembling  sugar  that  forms 
where  trunks  have  been  injured  by  fire  or  otherwise.  The  prin- 
ciple is  known  as  "  pinite,"  and  has  been  called  "American  false 
manna."  It  is  believed  to  possess  medicinal  value.  The  claim  that 
it  is  used  to  any  large  extent  as  a  substitute  for  sugar  is  not  well 
founded,  since  it  possesses  properties  unfitting  it  for  such  use. 

The  seeds  of  sugar  pine  are  about  the  size  of  peas,  and  are  said 
to  be  the  finest  in  flavor  of  all  edible  pine  nuts.  Their  small  size 
and  their  comparative  scarcity  make  the  gathering  of  them  too 
tedious  for  anyone  whose  time  is  valuable,  though  Indians  sometimes 
do  it.  The  Douglas  squirrel,  however,  is  the  greatest  gatherer  of 
sugar  pine  seeds,  and  in  some  localities  his  industry  leaves  few  for 
other  uses. 

LODGEPOLE  PINE  (Pinus  contorta). 

PHYSICAL,  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 25.5  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.41  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.32  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 55  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 7,890  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
49  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1.099.000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  52  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong;  grain  fine,  usually  straight 
but  sometimes  twisted,  annual  rings  usually  narrow  on  account  of  the  slow 
growth;  summerwood  narrow,  not  conspicuous,  resin  passages  few,  not  large; 
medullary  rays  prominent,  broad,  numerous ;  color  light  yellow  or  nearly  white, 
the  thick  sapwood  often  indistinguishable;  easily  worked  because  of  evenness 
of  texture,  but  too  knotty  to  afford  a  large  percentage  of  clear  wood;  not 
durable  but  readily  receives  preservative  treatment. 

Growth.— Height,  50  to  100  feet;  diameter,  1*  to  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

The  commercial  range  of  lodgepole  pine  covers  parts  of  Alaska, 
Arizona,  British  Columbia,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana, 


70  USES  OF  COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Oregon,  Utah,  Washington,  and  Wyoming. 
In  different  parts  of  its  range  it  is  known  as  tamarack,  prickly  pine, 
white  pine,  black  pine,  spruce  pine,  tamarack  pine,  and  Murray  pine. 

This  tree's  wide  geographical  range,  covering  a  million  square  miles 
or  more,  and  its  persistence  in  spite  of  repeated  forest  fires,  make  it 
an  important  factor  in  the  present  and  future  timber  supply.  It  is 
not,  however,  in  the  first  class  as  a  producer  of  lumber,  and  probably 
never  will  be.  It  is  of  very  slow  growth,  and  usually  a  century  or 
more  is  required  to  produce  a  trunk  large  enough  for  a  saw  log.  Its 
chief  value  probably  will  be  found  in  its  ability  to  supply  crossties, 
fence  posts,  mine  props,  telephone  poles,  and  similar  small  timbers. 
The  growth  in  its  extensive  range  is  by  no  means  uniform,  but  is 
thick  in  some  districts  and  very  scattering  in  others. 

Lodgepole  pine  profits  by  forest  fires,  even  though  its  thin  bark 
affords  so  little  protection  against  heat  that  a  moderate  fire  passing 
through  a  forest  of  this  species  frequently  makes  a  clean  sweep  of  all 
the  timber.  But  nature  has  provided  this  tree  with  the  means  of 
perpetuating  its  species  in  spite  of  fire ;  in  fact,  the  very  fire  that  kills 
a  lodgepole  pine  forest  is  a  powerful  agent  in  causing  a  new  growth 
to  spring  up  and  take  the  place  of  the  old.1  The  tree  is  a  prolific 
seeder.  It  begins  to  produce  fertile  seeds  when  less  than  10  years 
old  and  it  continues  to  do  so  for  two  or  three  centuries,  provided  it 
is  not  killed  in  the  meantime  by  fire. 

The  cones  hang  on  the  trees  many  years;  the  scales  are  sealed  to- 
gether with  resin  and  the  seeds  are  usually  unable  to  escape.  Fire 
softens  the  resin  and  the  seeds  fall  out.  They  are  not  easily  damaged 
by  heat,  though  the  cones  may  be  severely  singed,  and  the  scorched 
cones  hang  on  the  fire-killed  trees  until  the  seeds  have  time  to  fall 
upon  the  mineral  soil  left  bare  by  the  fire.  The  following  spring 
numerous  seedlings  cover  the  ground — as  many  as  138,000  having 
been  estimated  for  a  single  acre.  More  than  17,000,  3  feet  high,  have 
been  counted  on  a  single  acre.  All  of  them  can  not  grow  to  maturity, 
but  after  80  or  90  per  cent  have  been  crowded  to  death  the  survivors 
still  make  a  thick  stand  of  tall,  slender  poles.  They  grow  slowly  to 
trees,  and  under  favorable  circumstances  the  best  of  them  finally 
make  saw  logs.  Nearly  or  all  of  the  pure  lodgepole  pine  stands 
occupy  old  burns.  The  tree  reproduces  to  a  small  extent  on  unburned 
soil,  but  it  can  barely  hold  its  own  there. 

The  belief  that  the  cones  never  open  except  after  a  fire  is  errone- 
ous, but  they  open  slowly  and  during  several  years,  and  when  the 
seeds  fall  they  are  nearly  all  picked  up  by  squirrels  and  birds.  A 
forest  fire  assists  reproduction  in  another  way  than  by  baring  the 
vegetable  soil  and  showering  seeds  upon  it — it  destroys  the  rodents, 

1  The  Life  History  of  Lodgepole  Burn  Forests,  Forest  Service  Bulletin  79. 


LODGEPOLE   PINE.  71 

and  removes  the  hiding  places  of  birds  which,  in  an  uninjured 
forest,  eat  the  seeds. 

The  lodgepole  forest  attains  its  greatest  commercial  value  in  from 
lOO  to  150  years.  There  are  more  young  stands  than  old,  for  the  tree 
is  gaining  a  foothold  in  many  localities  where  it  once  was  not 
plentiful. 

The  Government's  estimate  of  the  stand  of  lodgepole  pine  in  the 
United  States  in  1909  placed  it  at  90  billion  feet.1  That  made  it 
seventh  in  quantity  among  the  important  timber  trees,  those  above 
it  being  Douglas  fir,  the  southern  yellow  pines,  western  yellow  pine, 
redwood,  western  hemlock,  and  western  red  cedar.  This  shows  that 
lodgepole  pine  occupies  no  minor  position  in  this  country's  timber 
supply.  It  is  ahead  of  white  pine,  hemlock,  cypress,  both  the  eastern 
arid  western  spruce,  and  dozens  of  other  woods  which  have  long  oc- 
cupied important  places  in  the  lumber  market. 

WIGWAM  POLES. 

The  Indians  built  their  lodges  or  wigwams  of  poles  set  in  a  circle 
and  bent  inward,  and  tied  together  at  the  top,  hence  the  name  "  lodge- 
pole."  The  poles  were  from  10  to  15  feet  long,  and  skins  were  spread 
over  them  for  a  roof  and  wall.  No  wood  was  better  adapted  to  this 
purpose  than  the  lodgepole  pine,  and  to  that  fact  the  name  is  due. 
The  Indians  who  lived  within  the  tree's  range,  and  also  those  upon  the 
plains  within  a  hundred  miles  or  so,  used  lodgepole  poles  for  wigwam 
supports.  It  was  customary  to  cut  and  peel  a  supply  in  the  spring 
when  the  tribe  set  out  upon  its  summer  hunt,  and  leave  them  to  season 
until  fall.  They  were  then  light,  and  were  easily  carried  or  dragged 
by  squaws  or  dogs  to  the  place  selected  for  the  winter  camp.  Poles  of 
nearly  the  same  thickness  their  whole  length  were  abundant,  and  when 
dry  were  very  light.  A  pole  2  inches  in  diameter  and  15  feet  long 
weighs  only  7  or  8  pounds.  Because  of  lightness,  stiffness,  and  strength, 
the  poles  were  employed  in  making  the  only  land  vehicle  used  by 
Indians  in  that  region,  a  sort  of  sled.  Two  poles  were  tied  together 
at  one  end  and  fastened  to  a  dog's  or  horse's  back,  and  the  other  ends 
trailed  on  the  ground.  The  load  was  fastened  on  the  poles  and  was 
half  carried,  half  dragged. 

EARLY  USES. 

The  tall,  slender  poles  and  trunks  in  a  lodgepole  forest  served  the 
early  white  settlers  as  well  as  they  had  served  the  wandering  In- 
dians. One  of  the  first  things  to  be  provided  in  establishing  a  ranch 
in  the  far  West  in  the  early  days  was  a  corral  or  yard  in  which  to 
confine  horses,  cattle,  and  other  stock.  Lodgepole  pine,  when  it  could 

1  Forest  Service  Circular  166. 


72  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

be  had,  was  ideal  timber  for  that  purpose.  Splitting  was  not  neces- 
sary, for  poles  of  suitable  size  were  abundant.  It  would  have  been 
difficult  to  split  the  timber,  for  the  multitudes  of  small  knots  pin  the 
wood  together  like  so  many  nails.  The  frontiersman  built  his  fences 
and  his  sheds,  stables,  and  sometimes  his  cabin  of  this  wood.  If  it 
could  be  had  at  all  it  was  usually  plentiful,  and  many  of  the  early 
settlers  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  made  their  start  in 
the  new  country  by  drawing  liberally  upon  the  lodgepole  forests  for 
ranch  timbers  and  for  fuel.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  the  stock 
districts  among  the  mountains,  for  lodgepole  pine  is  a  mountain 
tree.  In  the  valleys  and  near  the  base  of  the  hills  other  species,  such 
as  willow,  cottonwood,  alder,  and  western  yellow  pine  were  more 
convenient. 

MINE  TIMBERS  AND  FENCE  POSTS. 

The  early  miners  made  large  use  of  lodgepole  pine  timbers  in  their 
operations.  As  mine  props  it  was  cheap,  substantial,  and  convenient. 
It  is  the  chief  timber  employed  for  props,  lagging,  shafts,  and  stulls 
in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Montana,  and  Wyoming.  The  Rocky 
Mountain  region  contains  many  great  forests  of  trees  large  enough 
for  flumes  and  sluice  boxes.  However,  the  chief  difficulty  in  cutting 
lodgepole  for  mine  purposes  is  the  large  proportion  of  pieces  too 
small  for  use.  This  is  not  so  much  the  case  where  green  timber  is 
cut,  for  there  the  small  trees  may  be  left.  A  large  proportion  of  this 
wood  for  mining  purposes,  however,  is  now  cut  from  stands  killed 
by  fire  from  10  to  25  years  ago.  In  these  operations  only  timber  large 
enough  for  mine  use  is  taken,  while  much  that  would  ordinarily  serve 
well  for  fence  posts  is  left  in  the  woods. 

The  National  Forests  contain  much  fire-killed  lodgepole  pine.  In 
seeking  to  dispose  of  it  the  Government  has  tested  its  qualities  in 
numerous  ways,  and  it  has  been  shown  that  the  strength  of  the  tim- 
ber is  not  impaired  as  long  as  it  remains  sound,  which  may  be  for 
many  years.  The  wood  is  so  thoroughly  dried  out  that  it  is  in  ex- 
cellent condition  for  receiving  preservative  treatment.  This  opens 
a  field  for  it  for  telephone  poles  and  fence  posts.  The  butts  can  be 
treated,  and  durable  poles  and  posts  made  of  what  otherwise  would 
be  a  comparatively  quick-decaying  timber.  Since  these  products  are 
required  in  great  quantities  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  a  consid- 
erable market  for  the  fire-killed  poles  has  already  appeared. 

MANUFACTURE    AND    PRODUCTS. 

Lodgepole  pine  is  not  listed  separately  in  statistics  of  lumber  cut, 
and  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  what  the  annual  cut  is.  It  is 
known,  however,  that  much  lumber  is  sawed  from  this  species  in  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region,  particularly  in  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Mon- 
tana, and  Idaho.  Its  chief  market  is  the  newly  established  agricul- 


JEFFREY  PINE.  73 

tural  communities  of  those  States.  Settlements  have  progressed  rap- 
idly in  this  region  since  1900,  and  the  demand  has  been  correspond- 
ingty  strong. 

The  need  for  fruit  boxes  in  the  young  orchard  of  the  western  moun- 
tain region  has  opened  a  market  for  this  lumber;  and  some  of  it  is 
sold  to  manufacturers  as  far  east  as  Chicago,  who  make  boxes  of  it 
for  shipping  merchandise  of  various  kinds. 

Some  of  the  lumber  is  shipped  from  the  mills  under  the  name  of 
western  white  pine,  and  is  used  for  interior  finish.  Its  color  and 
grain  fit  it  for  that  purpose,  but  it  is  at  somewhat  of  a  disadvantage 
on  account  of  the  numerous  small  knots  it  contains.  It  gives  good 
service  in  rough  construction  and  for  lath.  Few  western  woods  are 
better  for  pickets  and  fencing  plank,  and  much  of  it  is  used  that  way. 

Half  a  million  lodgepole  pine  cross-ties  are  bought  annually  by 
railroads.  This  number  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  total  for  the 
country,  and  the  number  has  somewhat  decreased  since  1907.  Con- 
ditions indicate  an  increase,  however,  before  long,  and  the  importance 
of  this  wood  lies  more  in  prospective  than  in  present  use.  It  is  a 
wood  which  yields  readily  to  preservative  treatment,  and  when  so 
treated  it  lasts  many  years.  A  number  of  railroads  list  it  among 
woods  for  treatment  and  have  drawn  upon  the  supply  for  a  long 
time.  Forty  years  ago  great  numbers  of  lodgepole  pine  ties  were  cut 
in  Wyoming.  The  western  forests  are  adequate  to  meet  very  heavy 
demands  for  ties  of  this  timber,  and  are  so  situated  as  to  make  the 
supply  convenient  by  flume  to  a  large  mileage  of  railroad. 

Preservative  treatment  promises  greatly  to  extend  the  use  of  this1 
wood  for  fence  posts  and  telephone  poles.  In  its  natural  state  it  is 
not  enduring.  But  well-treated  lodgepole  posts  are  good  for  many 
years — perhaps  as  many  as  20 — and  this  will  make  them  the  equal 
of  cedar.  The  wood  lasts  well  above  ground,  and  in  some  localities 
is  used  for  fences  that  are  supported  on  the  surface  of  the  ground 
by  props,  instead  of  being  set  in  it.  The  long,  slender  poles  that 
grow  in  dense  forests  of  lodgepole  are  of  convenient  size  for  posts. 
Preservative  treatment  promises  a  greatly  extended  use  of  this  timber 
for  mine  props  also. 

In  Colorado  and  Wyoming  much  lodgepole  pine  was  at  one  time 
made  into  charcoal  for  the  smelters,  but  it  is  in  less  demand  now, 
because  the  building  of  railroads  has  made  coal  and  coke  available. 

JEFFREY  PINE  (Pinus  Jeffrey!). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 32.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 
Specific  gravity. — 0.52  (Sargent). 
Ash. — 0.26  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 
Fuel  value. — 68  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 


74  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,400  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
64  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,327,000  pounds  per  square 
inch,  or  63  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  rather  light,  hard,  brittle,  wide-ringed,  com- 
pact; summerwood  narrow,  very  resinous,  conspicuous;  resin  passages  few,  not 
large;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  wood  straw-colored,  the  sapwood 
pale  yellow  or  nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height  of  150  feet  and  a  diameter  of  25  inches  are  not  unusual, 
while  trees  much  larger  are  occasionally  seen.  On  high  mountains  the  average 
height  is  less  than  100  feet,  and  the  diameter  less  than  2  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

This  tree's  commercial  range  lies  almost  entirely  in  California  and 
is  confined  to  the  higher  Sierras,  though  it  is  found  in  southern 
Oregon  and  in  the  northern  part  of  Lower  California.  It  bears  close 
resemblance  to  the  western  yellow  pine,  and  over  much  of  its  range  is 
associated  with  it,  but  extends  higher  on  the  mountains.  It  ap- 
proaches within  3,600  feet  of  sea  level  and  extends,  in  the  south, 
10,000  feet  above.  It  is  known  by  a  number  of  names,  some  of  which 
seem  arbitrary  or  applicable  to  a  restricted  locality.  Among  them 
are  peninsula  pine,  Truckee  pine,  pinos,  black  pine,  black  bark  pine, 
sapwood  pine,  Sierra  redbark,  western  black  pine,  and  bull  pine. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  make  an  approximate  estimate  of  stand. 
Jeffrey  pine  is  not  scarce  within  its  range,  which  extends  1,000  miles 
north  and  south  and  from  20  to  150  east  and  west.  In  many  locali- 
ties it  passes  for  the  western  yellow  pine,  and  in  timber  deals  and 
lumber  operations  it  is  frequently  cut,  bought,  and  sold  as  such. 
Botanists,  however,  clearly  distinguish  between  the  two.  The  blacker 
and  more  deeply  furrowed  bark  of  the  Jeffrey  pine  is  the  usual 
character  by  which  lumbermen  tell  them  apart. 

Jeffrey  pine  is  not  aggressive  in  extending  its  range  or  increasing 
its  stand.  Its  seeds  have  little  wing  area  and  never  fly  far.  Neither 
are  they  abundant,  and  they  are  at  still  further  disadvantage  by  being 
preyed  upon  by  birds  and  rodents.  The  tree  seems  to  be  holding  its 
own,  but  no  more.  Better  protection  against  fire  may  help  it  to  some 
extent. 

USES. 

A  review  of  the  uses  of  Jeffrey  pine  must  be  made  under  difficulty 
similar  to  a  review  of  the  uses  of  the  Norway  pine  of  the  Lake  States. 
The  Norway  pine  is  cut,  milled,  sold,  and  used  with  white  pine,  fre- 
quently without  effort  to  distinguish  it.  The  Jeffrey  pine  occupies 
precisely  similar  relations  to  the  western  yellow  pine.  There  is,  nev- 
ertheless, considerable  difference  between  the  woods  of  the  two  species. 
The  wood  is  harder  and  coarser  than  yellow  pine,  and  is  more  likely  to 
warp  if  air-dried.  It  would  be  much  more  valuable  for  fuel  than  it  is 


APACHE  PINE.  75 

at  present  if  a  market  for  it  were  within  reach.  It  is  full  of  pitch  and 
burns  quickly  and  brightly,  but  the  range  of  the  tree  lies,  for  the  most 
part,  remote  from  towns  and  factories,  and  it  furnishes  comparatively 
little  cordwood.  A  small  quantity  was  formerly  cut  for  poles  on  the 
margins  of  elevated  glades  and  natural  meadows  of  the  Sierras,  and 
Avas  used  for  fencing  corrals ;  but  it  was  not  liked  for  this  use  as  well 
as  the  lodgepole  pine,  which  very  often  could  be  had  with  no  more 

labor. 

ARIZONA  LONGLEAF  PINE  (Pinus  mayriana). 

This  tree's  range  lies  in  southern  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  and  it 
thrives  at  lower  altitudes  than  the  western  yellow  pine.  It  occupies 
dry  situations,  and  the  trees  are  usually  of  less  height  and  diameter 
than  the  }Tellow  pine,  but  the  woods  of  the  two  species  are  much  alike. 
They  are  sawed,  sold,  and  used  without  distinction. 

CHIHUAHUA  PINE  (Pinus  chihuahuana). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 34.0  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.55  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.39  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 72  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 11,600  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
72  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,048,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  49  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  rather  strong,  brittle,  narrow-ringed  com- 
pact ;  summerwood  not  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous ;  resin  passages  few,  rather 
large,  conspicuous;  medullary  rays  numerous,  thin;  color  clear  light  orange, 
the  thick  sapwood  lighter. 

Growth.— Height,  50  to  80  feet ;  diameter,  15  to  20  inches. 

The  Chihuahua  pine  is  found  in  commercial  quantity,  though  not 
in  abundance,  in  southwestern  New  Mexico  and  southern  Arizona. 
Although  the  logs  average  rather  small  for  profitable  lumbering,  such 
lumber  as  is  cut  ranks  with  western  yellow  pine  and  is  used  for 
similar  purposes.  In  addition  to  this,  it  has  considerable  local  value 
as  fuel  and  is  employed  about  ranches  for  posts,  sheds,  and  other 
timbers.  It  occasionally  finds  employment  as  posts,  props,  and  lag- 
ging in  mines.  Estimates  of  stumpage  for  this  species  have  not  been 
made,  but  the  supply  is  not  large.  The  tree  reaches  its  typical  de- 
velopment at  altitudes  of  from  5,000  to  7,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

APACHE  PINE  (Pinus  apacheca). 

This  tree  so  closely  resembles  the  western  yellow  pine  in  the  region 
where  both  occur  that  some  are  inclined  to  consider  it  a  form  of  that 
species.  It  is  found  in  southeastern  Arizona  and  is  best  developed 
and  most  abundant  in  the  Chiricahua  Mountains.  So  far  as  it  is  put 
to  use,  it  passes  for  yellow  pine. 


76  USES  OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

ARIZONA  PINE  (Pinus  arizonica). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 31.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.5  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.2  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 68  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 9,100  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
57  per  cent  that  of  long-leaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,153,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  54  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong,  rather  brittle,  compact; 
summerwood  broad,  very  resinous,  conspicuous ;  resin  passages  numerous,  large ; 
medullary  rays  thin,  obscure ;  color  light  red,  or  often  yellow,  the  sapwood 
lighter  yellow  or  white. 

Groivth. — Height,  75  to  90  feet ;  diameter,  18  to  30  inches. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  range  of  the  Arizona  pine  is  restricted  to  the  mountains  of 
southern  Arizona,  where  it  attains  its  best  development  on  rocky 
ridges  from  6,000  to  8,000  feet  above  sea  level.  It  is  the  prevailing 
forest  tree  near  the  summit  of  the  Santa  Catalina  Mountains.  In 
general  appearance  it  closely  resembles  the  western  yellow  pine,  and 
the  two  species  are  frequently  cut,  milled,  and  sold  in  that  region 
without  distinction;  but  this  holds  only  for  the  better  grades  of 
Arizona  pine  logs.  Much  of  the  timber  is  of  small  size  and  yields 
inferior  lumber.  The  wood  supplies  a  considerable  local  demand  for 
fuel. 

MEXICAN  WHITE  PINE  (Pinus  strombiformls). 

PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 30.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity.— 0.49  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.26  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  ( Sargent ) . 

Fuel  value. — 65  per  cent  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,800  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
61  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,154,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  54  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  hard,  not  strong,  close  ringed,  compact ; 
springwood  thin,  resinous,  not  conspicuous;  resin  passages  large,  not  numerous; 
medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure ;  color,  light  red,  the  sapwood  nearly  white. 

Growth.— Height,  75  to  90  feet ;  diameter,  12  to  18  inches. 

SUPPLY   AND   USES. 

The  Mexican  white  pine's  northern  limit  is  in  southwestern  Mexico 
and  southern  Arizona,  and  the  tree  is  most  abundant  at  altitudes  of 
from  6,000  to  8,000  feet.  Its  range  extends  north  and  south  through 


SINGLELEAF   PINON.  77 

Mexico  to  Guatemala.  In  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  the  growth  is 
scattering  and  comparatively  scarce;  the  trees  are  frequently  de- 
formed through  fire  injury,  and  the  trunks  are  inclined  to  be  limby. 
Lumbermen  who  cut  it  at  their  mills  are  disposed  to  place  small  value 
upon  it,  not  because  the  wood  is  poor,  but  because  the  supply  is  small. 
In  appearance  the  wood  resembles  eastern  white  pine,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  that  it  ever  passes  for  it  or  is  substituted  for  the  eastern 
species.  It  is  lumbered  and  marketed  with  western  yellow  pine. 
For  that  reason  it  is  difficult  to  list  its  uses  separately.  This  pine 
has  contributed  its  share  to  the  region's  fuel  supply  arid  ranch  tim- 
bers ;  but  the  demand  for  these  has  never  been  large  within  the  tree's 
range,  because  much  of  the  region  is  mountainous  and  sparsely  set- 
tled. The  tree  is  sometimes  called  ayacahuite  pine. 

SINGLELEAF  PINON  (Pinus  monophylla). 
PHYSICAL    PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 35.25  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.57    (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.68  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 76  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 4,000  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
25  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 643,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  30  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  moderately  light,  soft,  very  weak,  brittle, 
grain  coarse,  often  twisted;  annual  rings  narrow,  summerwood  thin,  not  con- 
spicuous; resin  passages  few,  not  large;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure; 
color  yellow  or  light  brown,  sapwood  nearly  white;  not  durable  in  the  soil. 

Growth. — Height,  20  to  40  feet ;  diameter,  12  to  15  inches. 

SUPPLY. 

The  botanical  and  commercial  ranges  of  this  unique  tree  are  co- 
extensive. Wherever  it  grows  it  is  put  to  use.  The  total  quantity, 
considered  as  timber,  is  so  small  that  in  comparison  with  some  other 
species,  such  as  western  yellow  pine  or  Douglas  fir,  it  is  insignificant. 
Yet  it  is  of  such  importance  that  the  existence  of  the  population- 
more  in  former  times  than  at  present — has  often  depended  upon  it. 
It  is  a  product  of  the  desert,  of  sterile  plain,  barren  ravine,  and  bleak 
mountain.  It  maintains  its  foothold  at  an  elevation  of  9,000  feet, 
on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  and  descends 
to  a  level  of  2,000  feet  in  the  hot  Colorado  Desert  in  California.  It 
lives  where  the  mercury  falls  below  zero  on  wind-swept  mountains, 
and  it  endures  a  temperature  of  122°  in  the  Mojave  Desert.  Its 
range  covers  portions  of  Utah,  Nevada,  California,  Arizona,  and 
Lower  California,  the  most  sterile  and  arid  regions  that  can  be  found 
in  this  country.  For  that  reason  it  has  few  neighbors  of  the  vegetable 


78  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

kingdom.  A  few  trees  associate  with  it  here  and  there  in  its  range, 
among  them  being  mountain  mahogany,  California  juniper,  yucca, 
and  sometimes  a  straggling  white  fir  and  Jeffrey  pine. 

It  grows  very  slowly  and  can  never  be  planted  for  the  purpose  of 
growing  timber.  A  hundred  years  would  be  necessary  to  produce  a 
fence  post  and  200  years  for  a  railroad  tie.  Nothing  larger  than  a 
crosstie  need  ever  be  expected,  though  in  exceptionally  favorable  cir- 
cumstances a  small,  short  saw  log  might  be  produced.  The  difficul- 
ties which  beset  the  seeds  and  the  seedlings  before  the  young  pine 
finds  itself  safely  established  in  the  sterile  soil  and  inhospitable  cli- 
mate are  apparent  in  the  fact  that  scarcely  one  seed  in  ten  thousand— 
possibly  not  one  in  a  million — becomes  a  tree.  The  seedling  demands 
shade  to  protect  it  from  the  scorching  sun  and  withering  winds,  but 
the  parent  trees,  almost  destitute  as  they  are  of  foliage,  afford  hardly 
the  shade  which  a  thin  lattice  work  would  give.  The  large  trees  are 
so  intolerant  that  they  will  endure  no  crowding,  and  a  forest  of  these 
trees  casts  only  a  pale,  penumbrous  shade,  and  in  it  the  seedlings 
must  struggle  for  their  lives,  and  the  struggle  ends  in  death  for  the 
most  of  them. 

The  tree  has  several  names,  but  singleleaf  pinon  has  been  proposed 
as  best  suited,  since  it  is  the  only  pine  in  this  country  with  single 
leaves.  They  are  dispersed  sparingty  over  the  twig  and  are  curved 
to  a  form  resembling  the  old-style  shoemaker's  sewing  awl.  It  has 
been  described  as  the  tree  with  awls  for  leaves.  It  is  perhaps  the 
most  fruitful  tree  in  the  world,  in  comparison  with  the  resources  and 
material  at  its  command. 

No  estimate  can  be  offered  of  the  quantity  of  singleleaf  pinon 
timber.  It  is  scattered  over  an  area  of  100,000  square  miles,  but  pure 
stands  of  considerable  density  are  few.  It  can  scarcely  be  measured 
in  the  way  other  timbers  are  measured,  for  few  of  the  trees  will  yield 
a  single  short  saw  log  of  small  size.  The  trunks  are  branched  and 
squat,  like  sprawling  apple  trees.  They  run  to  limbs,  "^d  the  yield 
of  an  acre  or  a  tract  would  have  to  be  computed  as  cordwood  rather 
than  as  saw  logs  or  even  crossties.  The  tree  is  sometimes  called  Fre- 
mont's nut  pine,  gray  pine,  Nevada  nut  pine,  and  Mono  mast  pine. 

LOCAL  USES. 

The  uses  of  the  wood  of  the  singleleaf  pinon  are  local.  It  is  sel- 
dom or  never  shipped  out  of  the  region  where  it  grows,  but  in  that 
region  it  is  of  supreme  importance.  Without  it  the  wheels  of  indus- 
try would  stop  in  many  a  remote  locality  where  a  few  men  are  hold- 
ing out  against  adverse  circumstances  in  an  effort  to  develop  mining 
claims,  or  small  tracts  of  ranch,  or  farm  land  surrounded  by  inhos- 
pitable wastes. 


SINGLELEAF   PINON.  79 

In  a  few  instances  this  pine  has  been  used  for  crossties.  Railroads 
cross  the  region  in  a  number  of  directions,  and  necessity  sometimes 
compels  the  builders  to  employ  the  crooked  trunks  for  temporary 
ties  and  for  short  timbers  in  trestles.  A  more  important  use  of  the 
wood  is  for  mine  timbers.  Short  pieces  can  frequently  be  employed 
to  advantage  in  shoring  up  stopes  and  strengthening  the  walls  and 
roofs  of  tunnels  and  galleries.  Some  of  the  most  productive  silver 
mines  ever  worked  in  this  country,  and  many  gold  mines  also,  have 
been  located  in  this  pine's  range,  and  the  miners  put  it  to  every  use 
where  it  could  possibly  be  made  to  serve.  It  was,  and  is,  the  main 
dependence  for  fuel  in  large  districts.  It  provides  heat  for  boilers 
that  pump  the  mine  shafts  and  hoist  the  ores.  The  cooking,  baking, 
laundry  work,  and  the  warming  of  homes  and  camps  are  possible  in 
many  places  only  by  utilizing  the  singleleaf  pine  that  covers  the 
mesas  and  ridges. 

An  industry  that  is  important,  though  not  large,  is  the  burning  of 
charcoal.  Portable  blacksmith  shops  are  carried  into  remote  canyons 
or  high  up  on  mountains  where  prospectors  are  developing  mines, 
and  the  only  fuel  for  sharpening,  mending,  and  tempering  tools  is 
the  charcoal  burned  from  this  pine  in  the  rude  pits  built  near  the 
source  of  the  wood  supply.  As  a  charcoal  material  on  some  of  the 
most  rugged  mountains,  it  sometimes  goes  to  the  pit  with  the  western 
junipers  which  maintain  a  foothold  on  plateaus  and  ranges  so  high 
that  even  the  pine  can  not  grow  there,  but  the  charcoal  burner  brings 
them  together. 

The  singleleaf  pine  is  not  an  ideal  farm  timber,  and  it  would  sel- 
dom be  put  to  that  use  if  anything  else  could  be  had ;  but  the  circum- 
stances which  cause  it  to  be  employed  in  mines  lead  also  to  its  use 
on  ranches.  Some  timber  must  be  had,  even  on  the  most  unpreten- 
tious desert  homestead,  and  the  pine  is  cut  for  fences  and  sheds.  It 
serves  also  for  repairing  wagons  and  farm  machines. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

This  tree  has  one  by-product  which  gives  it  a  peculiar  importance. 
Groves  and  stands  of  the  singleleaf  pine  are  known  locally  and  not 
unaptly  as  "the  redman's  orchard."  Its  phenomenal  production  of 
fruit  has  been  spoken  of.  Every  year  is  not  a  fruitful  year,  but  a 
failure  of  crop  is  unknown,  and  when  good  years  come,  as  they  do 
quite  often,  the  yield  is  tremendous.  It  has  been  said  that  in  total 
production  in  a  good  season  this  pine's  nut  crop  probably  exceeds 
California's  wheat  crop.1  As  it  is  a  desert  tree,  growing  on  wastes 
and  among  remote  mountains  and  scattered  over  tens  of  thousands  of 
square  miles,  in  regions  with  few  inhabitants  or  none,  very  few  of 

1  The  Mountains  of  California,  p.  222,  John  Muir. 


80          USES  OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  nuts  go  to  supply  human  needs.  Possibly  one  bushel  in  a  thou- 
sand is  gathered.  It  is  an  important  article  of  food  with  the  nomadic 
Indians  who  roam  through  the  region,  but  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
occupy  it.  They  save  all  the  pine  nuts  they  can  while  the  crop  is 
falling,  but  the  harvest  is  short.  During  a  month  or  two  the  In- 
dians live  in  luxury  and  for  the  rest  of  the  year  they  must  depend 
upon  something  else,  though  the  region  produces  little  other  food  that 
the  Indians  can  appropriate.  This  statement  applies  more  to  the 
region  before  white  men  began  to  develop  it  than  now.  Had  the 
nut  crop  been  continuous  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  the 
region  would  have  supported  a  large  Indian  population,  but  it  suf- 
ficed for  a  few  weeks  only,  and  famine  followed.  The  Indians  stored 
the  nuts  to  a  limited  extent,  but  they  could  not,  or  at  least  did  not, 
lay  by  enough  for  the  rest  of  the  year. 

The  opening  of  the  nut  season  brought  Indians  from  neighboring 
regions  to  partake  of  the  bounty.  A  single  Indian — generally  the 
women  did  the  work — would  gather  30  or  40  bushels.  The  harvest 
time  was  a  perpetual  feast.  The  nuts  were  roasted  or  eaten  raw.  The 
Indians  preferred  them  roasted  because  the  strong  oil  in  the  nuts 
soon  cloys  the  appetite  if  eaten  raw.  The  nut  gatherers  carried  on 
an  interesting  though  not  very  large  commerce  with  their  country- 
men outside  the  nut  district.  In  some  instances  the  nuts  were  car- 
ried 100  miles  to  be  exchanged  for  fish  or  some  other  product  that 
the  native  traders  could  use  for  barter.1 

The  Indians  who  gather  nuts  do  not  confine  their  commercial  trans- 
actions to  trade  with  other  Indians,  but  carry  on  considerable  busi- 
ness with  white  people.  The  nuts  are  sold  in  thousands  of  stores 
between  San  Francisco  and  Denver,  and  North  and  South.  They 
resemble  shelled  peanuts  in  size  and  appearance  and  are  eaten  in 
the  same  way.  No  one  knows  how  many  bushels  are  sold  yearly, 
but  in  the  aggregate  the  quantity  would  be  surprising  if  known. 
The  nuts  are  not  bought  for  human  consumption  only,  but  where 
they  are  plentiful  and  cheap  are  fed  to  horses,  which  seem  to  prefer 
them  to  grain.  Burro  pack  trains,  carrying  supplies  for  sheep 
herders  and  miners  in  the  region,  sometimes  get  little  other  provender 
for  days  together. 

When  the  mines  at  Virginia  City,  Nev.,  and  elsewhere  in  that  dis- 
trict were  booming,  long  before  railroads  were  within  reach,  the 
problem  of  feeding  the  thousands  of  miners  was  extremely  difficult. 
Ranchmen  in  California,  west  of  the  mountains,  were  accustomed 

1  An  interesting  exchange  of  commodities  formerly  took  place,  and  possibly  has  not 
entirely  ceased,  between  Indian  tribes  occupying  different  sides  of  the  Sierras.  West  of 
the  mountains,  in  Fresno  and  Madera  Counties,  Cal.,  Indians  gathered  acorns,  and  the 
women,  burdening  themselves  with  2  or  3  bushels  each  in  baskets  strapped  on  their  backs, 
carried  them  across  the  Sierras,  125  miles,  following  almost  impossible  trails  and  passing 
the  summit  at  12,500  feet.  Arriving  on  the  east  side,  they  exchanged  the  acorns  for 
pine  nuts,  which  they  carried  home,  the  journey  occupying  about  20  days. 


PINON.  81 

to  drive  hogs  slowly  across  the  Sierras  during  the  late  summer, 
arriving  in  the  pine  belt  about  the  time  the  nuts  began  to  fall.  The 
herds  fattened  two  months  on  the  abundant  mast  and  were  then  ready 
for  market.  This  occurred  in  the  region  of  the  Mono  Indians,  and 
the  name  Mono  mast  pine  was  applied  to  the  tree.1 

Although  the  nut  harvest  in  the  aggregate  is  enormous,  and  a  pro- 
portion so  small  as  to  be  almost  negligible  is  ever  gathered  by  man, 
yet  in  certain  localities  former  plenty  has  been  changed  to  little  or 
nothing,  due  to  the  cutting  of  the  trees  for  fuel  and  mine  timbers. 
The  white  man's  and  the  Indian's  interest  clashed  many  times  on 
the  desert  frontier,  the  red  man  defending  his  food  tree  and  the 
white  man  bent  on  taking  it  away. 

MEXICAN  PINON  (Pinus  cembroides). 

The  Mexican  pinon  has  its  northern  limit  in  southern  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico,  where  the  trees  are  comparatively  numerous,  but  so 
small  that  they  contribute  scarcely  any  saw  timber,  though  something 
to  the  region's  fuel  supply  and  to  the  needs  of  ranches.  Its  average 
height  is  only  about  30  feet  and  its  diameter  less  than  1  foot.  The 
nuts  have  hard  shells,  like  those  of  gray  pine,  and  are  edible.  The 
tree  is  sometimes  called  nut  pine,  pinon,  and  stone-seed  Mexican 
pinon.  The  wood  is  light,  soft,  very  close  ringe,d^ compact;  bands  of 
small  summer  cells  thin,  not  conspicuous,  resin  passages  few,  small; 
medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure ;  color  light,  clear  yellow,  the  sap- 
wood  nearly  white.  The  wood's  weight  is  40.58  pounds  per  cubic 
foot,  specific  gravity  0.65,  and  ash  0.9  per  cent  of  dry  weight  of  wood. 
(Sargent.) 

PINON  (Pinus  edulis). 

PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 39.8  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity.— 0.64  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.62  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value.— 85  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 6,300  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
39  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 604,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  29  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  heavy,  hard,  weak,  brittle ;  annual  rings 
very  narrow;  summerwood  thin,  not  conspicuous;  resin  passages  few,  small; 
medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  color,  light  brown,  the  sapwood  nearly 
white ;  moderately  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Growth. — Height,  10  to  25  feet;  diameter,  6  to  20  inches. 

JThe  herding  of  the  hogs  on  the  pine  mast  was  often  attended  with  danger.  The 
Indians  of  the  immediate  vicinity  resented  the  invasion,  and  with  reason,  since  their  food 
supply  was  being  devoured  by  the  hogs.  They  retaliated  by  stealing  as  many  of  the 
swine  as  possible,  and  sometimes  offered  violence  to  the  herders.  Bears  of  large  size 
and  savage  nature  also  left  off  gathering  nuts  and  fell  upon  the  swine  with  appetites  so 
voracious  that  the  herders  were  compelled  to  wage  constant  war  upon  the  marauders. 

101500°— Bull.  99—11 6 


82  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

SUPPLY    AND    USES. 

This  pine  has  several  names,  all  of  which  are  based  on  the  fruit 
it  bears.  It  is  called  nut  pine,  pinon  pine,  pinon,  and  New  Mexican 
pifion,  and  is  one  of  the  four  pines  of  the  far  West  whose  nuts  are 
important  as  food,  the  others  being  the  singleleaf  pinon,  the  Parry 
pine,  and  the  Mexican  pinon.  The  tree  under  consideration  has  its 
range  in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  western  Texas.  It  grows  to  an 
elevation  of  9,000  feet  or  more,  and  the  available  supply  is  consider- 
able, though  it  can  scarcely  be  classed  as  a  timber  tree  in  the  ordinary 
meaning  of  the  term.  Its  trunk  is  so  short  that  it  seldom  makes 
more  than  a  crosstie  or  fence  post.  It  usually  branches  a  few  feet 
above  the  ground,  and  has  the  appearance  of  a  large  shrub. 

The  pifion  has  been  tested  as  tie  timber  and  as  such  has  had  a 
limited  commercial  use.  Some  20  years  ago  the  Rio  Grande  Western 
Eailroad  laid  2,000  pinon  ties  as  an  experiment,  and  the  result  was 
believed  to  be  satisfactory.  In  some  other  instances  where  this  wood 
has  been  similarly  used  ties  occasionally  broke  under  the  strain  of 
traffic,  the  rails  cut  the  wood,  and  sometimes,  with  resinous  speci- 
mens, the  ties  split  when  spikes  were  driven.  Complaint  has  also 
been  made  that  the  wood's  holding  power  upon  spikes  is  poor. 

Beports  are  conflicting  also  with  regard  to  the  value  of  this  wood 
for  fence  posts,  of  which  comparatively  large  numbers  are  used. 
Sometimes  they  have  offered  satisfactory  resistance  to  decay,  and  at 
others  have  lasted  only  3  or  4  years.  This  difference  may  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  timber  is  very  pitchy  and  some  is  not. 
The  posts  for  an  experimental  coyote-proof  pasture  fence  in  Coche- 
topa  National  Forest,  Colo.,  are  of  this  timber. 

In  all  parts  of  the  tree's  range  it  is  cut  for  fuel.  Where  the  demand 
is  strong  large  areas  have  been  partly  or  wholly  stripped  to  supply  it. 
In  some  parts  of  Colorado  $8  a  cord  has  been  paid  for  it.  Few  soft- 
woods rank  above  it  in  fuel  value. 

Telephone  poles  are  sometimes  cut  of  pinon,  but  on  account  of  its 
poor  form  its  use  as  poles  can  never  rise  to  importance. 

Charcoal  burners  in  all  parts  of  its  range  have  cut  it  for  fuel  for 
local  forges.  The  wood  is  pressed  into  service  for  various  ranch  uses, 
usually  because  it  is  the  best  available  in  particular  localities.  Among 
such  uses  are  parts  of  wagons  and  sleds,  neckyokes,  pickets,  corral 
poles  and  posts,  culverts,  sheds,  and  cabins. 

The  nuts  borne  by  this  tree  give  it  one  of  its  chief  values.  The 
Indians  and  some  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  region  gathered  the  nuts 
for  food.  This  is  still  done  to  some  extent,  and  local  stores  offer 
them  for  sale.  The  tree  is  a  less  prolific  seeder  than  is  the  singleleaf 
pinon  of  eastern  California  and  western  Nevada.  The  nuts  are  not 
carried  by  the  wind,  but  fall  near  the  trunk  of  the  parent  tree,  where 
they  are  easily  collected  by  Indians  and  by  birds  and  rodents.  So 


MONTEREY   PINE.  83 

few  escape  that  reproduction  is  scanty  in  most  localities,  and  that 
fact  will  have  its  influence  upon  the  future  supply  of  this  species. 

PARRY  PINON  (Pinus  quadrifolia). 

PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  ivood. — 35.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.57  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.54  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 76  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture), — 6,400  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
40  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 565,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  27  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  moderately  heavy,  soft,  compact;  annual 
rings  very  narrow ;  sumnierwood  thin,  not  conspicuous ;  resin  passages  very 
numerous,  large,  conspicuous;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  color  light 
brown  or  yellow,  the  sapwood  much  lighter. 

Grow th.— Height,  15  to  30  feet ;  diameter,  10  to  16  inches. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  Parry  pinon's  range  is  confined  to  the  extreme  south  of  Cali- 
fornia and  to  Lower  California,  but  it  is  more  abundant  south  than 
north  of  the  international  boundary.  It  is  too  small  a  tree  to  figure 
largely  in  lumber  production,  even  if  it  were  plentiful.  It  is  cut  for 
fuel,  and  a  little  is  employed  about  ranches  for  fencing,  posts,  and  for 
repair  of  farm  implements.  The  Indians  of  the  region,  and  occa- 
sionally the  Americans,  make  use  of  the  large  nuts  for  food.  The 
seeds  are  wingless  and  seldom  get  themselves  planted  far  from  the 
parent  tree.  It  is  not  probable  that  this  pine  will  ever  become  more 
important  than  it  is  now. 

MONTEREY  PINE  (Pinus  radiata). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Dry  weight  of  wood. — 28.5  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.46  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.3  per  cent  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 61  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,000  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
62  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  siffness  (modulus  of  elasicity). — 1,415,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  67  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  light,  soft,  strong,  and  rather  tough ;  annual 
rings  very  wide;  summerwood  not  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous;  color,  light 
brown,  the  very  thick  sapwood  nearly  white. 

Growth.— Height,  70  to  90  feet ;  diameter,  18  to  30  inches. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  Monterey  pine's  range  is  restricted  to  the  California  coast, 
south  of  San  Francisco,  and  to  the  islands  adjacent.  It  will  grow  in 
pure  stands,  but  it  does  not  live  long  in  arid  situations,  nor  does  it 
thrive  in  wet  soils.  It  can,  however,  grow  in  the  shade,  and  it  is  not 


84  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

forced  to  retreat  before  other  trees.  This  characteristic  will  be  im- 
portant if  the  tree  should  ever  be  planted  for  timber.  It  grows  as 
rapidly  as  the  loblolly  pine  of  the  east,  the  annual  rings  sometimes 
being  nearly  an  inch  broad,  and  trees  from  28  to  35  years  old  are  16 
to  18  inches  in  diameter.  It  commonly  attains  a  height  of  from  TO 
to  90  feet,  but  the  largest  trees  are  taller  than  this,  and  sometimes 
attain  a  diameter  of  6  feet.  The  tree  has  been  planted  for  ornament 
and  shelter  belts,  and  a  portion  of  the  small  quantity  of  its  wood  that 
has  been  used  has  been  cut  from  planted  trees.  It  is  employed  as  fuel, 
a  little  lumber  is  occasionally  sawed  from  it,  and  a  small  amount  finds 
place  as  ranch  timber  near  the  coast.  The  tree  bears  abundance  of 
seeds,  but  the  cones  remain  closed  from  6  to  10  years. 

COULTER  PINE  (Pinus  coulteri). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 25.8  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. —0.37  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.37  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 55  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,700  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  66  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,022,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  77  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  moderately  strong,  very  tough;  annual 
rings  narrow,  summerwood  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous ;  resin  passages  few, 
large ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  prominent ;  color,  light  red,  the  thick  sapwood 
nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height,  40  to  70  feet ;  diameter,  IS  to  30  inches. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  Coulter  pine  is  confined  to  the  coast  regions  of  California,  be- 
tween San  Francisco  Bay  and  the  Mexican  line.  It  never  occurs  in 
pure  stands,  and  the  available  supply  is  small.  The  tree  bears  con- 
siderable resemblance  to  the  western  yellow  pine,  but  is  much  inferior 
in  size.  Trunks  of  10  or  15  feet  length  are  rare,  and  diameters  of  from 
18  to  30  inches  are  a  fair  average.  In  size  of  cone  this  pine  sur- 
passes all  others,  and  the  cones  are  further  remarkable  for  the  sharp, 
hooked  claws  on  the  ends  of  the  scales.  It  is  not  an  aggressive  tree, 
and  does  not  push  with  vigor  into  vacant  spaces,  but  holds  the  ground 
fairly  well  which  it  already  has.  It  need  not  be  expected  that  it  will 
ever  exercise  much  influence  upon  the  lumber  supply  of  the  region 
where  it  grows.  In  some  localities  its  short  trunk  has  been  sawed 
into  rough  lumber  for  fences,  barns,  sheds,  and  irrigation  flumes.  A 
larger  amount  has  gone  into  cordwood,  and  for  that  use  it  is  fairly 
profitable  when  accessible  to  market.  Its  fuel  value  is  a  little  under 
that  of  western  yellow  pine.  It  was  once  burned  in  pits  for  charcoal 
to  supply  local  blacksmith  shops,  but  it  is  seldom  put  to  that  use  now. 
It  is  knpwn  as  Coulter  pine,  nut  pine,  big  cone  pine,  and  large  cone 
pine. 


GRAY  PINE.  85 

TORREY  PINE  (Pinus  torreyana). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 30.4  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.49  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.35  per  cent  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 68  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,600  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
66  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 803,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  38  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood,  light,  soft,  moderately  strong,  very  brittle, 
compact;  bands  of  small  surninerwood  broad,  resinous,  conspicuous;  resin  pas- 
sages small,  few;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure;  color,  light  red,  the 
sapwood  yellow  or  nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height,  18  to  30  feet ;  diameter,  8  to  15  inches. 

SUPPLY   AND    USES. 

The  range  of  the  Torrey  pine  is  restricted  to  a  small  portion  of 
San  Diego  County,  Cal.,  and  to  the  islands  of  Santa  Cruz  and  Santa 
Rosa.  The  species  is  rapidly  disappearing,  the  small  supply  upon 
the  mainland  having  been  drawn  upon  for  fuel  and  for  local  use  on 
ranches  until  little  remains.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  Soledad 
pine — "  pine  of  solitude."  Where  it  grows  in  the  sweep  of  sea  winds 
its  usual  height  is  from  25  to  35  feet,  with  a  diameter  from  8  to  14- 
inches,  but  in  sheltered  situations  it  forms  a  fairly  straight  trunk 
from  40  to  60  feet  or  more  high  and  is  fit  for  small  saw  timber.  It 
is  so  scarce,  however,  that  it  is  seldom  cut. 

GRAY  PINE  (Pinus  sabiniana). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 30.2  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.48  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.4  per  cent  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 65  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 10,800  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  67  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 830,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  39  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  light,  soft,  rather  strong,  but  brittle;  annual 
rings  generally  wide ;  the  wood  of  isolated  trees  is  coarse  and  twisted  grained, 
the  wood  of  closely  grown  timber  is  much  finer  and  softer;  summerwood 
broad,  very  resinous,  resin  passages  few,  large,  prominent;  medullary  rays 
numerous,  obscure ;  not  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil. 

Growth. — Height,  50  to  70  feet,  but  sometimes  100  or  more;  diameter,  18 
to  30  inches,  with  occasional  trees  more  than  3  feet. 

SUPPLY. 

This  tree  is  generally  called  digger  pine  in  the  region  where  it 
grows,  but  in  literature  it  is  known  as  gray  pine,  grayleaf  pine,  and 
Sabine's  pine.  Its  range  is  in  the  form  of  an  elipse  500  miles  long 


86  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  150  wide,  a  band  or  rim  surrounding  the  central  California 
Valley.  Its  northern  limit  is  near  Mount  Shasta,  its  southern  near 
the  Mojave  Desert.  The  timber  does  not  descend  into  the  valley 
region  of  California,  but  grows  as  a  fringe  on  the  hills  and  moun- 
tains on  all  sides  of  it.  It  actually  occupies  some  30,000  or  40,000 
square  miles,  but  the  stand  is  scattered  and  the  total  quantity  com- 
paratively small.  It  is  seldom  fit  for  or  counted  as  saw  timber. 
The  trunks  go  to  limb  and  are  thick  rather  than  tall.  In  many 
instances  this  is  due  to  the  loss  of  the  leader  or  topmost  shoot,  through 
attack  of  two  microscopic  fungi,  PeridermAum  liarknessi  and  Dce- 
dalia  vorax. 

Gray  pine  appears  to  be  holding  its  own  in  most  parts  of  its  range. 
It  growTs  rapidly  under  circumstances  by  no  means  favorable,  and- 
for  that  reason  it  is  worth  caring  for.  It  endures  drought,  some- 
times severe  enough  to  kill  the  chaparral  and  oaks  associated  with 
it.  Parched  and  sterile  soils  afford  it  nourishment,  but  it  responds 
to  better  conditions,  and  a  few  years  bring  it  to  size  fit  for  mine  props 
and  cordwood,  while  a  period  of  85  years  has  been  known  to  produce 
timber  90  feet  high  and  46  inches  in  diameter.  The  extreme  re- 
corded age  of  this  pine  is  175  years.  Better  fire  protection  is  doing 
much  to  encourage  its  reproduction  and  growrth.  Seedlings  are  more 
numerous  than  formerly,  and  though  it  is  a  light-demanding  tree, 
it  thrives  in  tolerably  dense  stands,  which  produce  a  better  kind  of 
wood — softer  and  finer — than  open  stands  and  straggling  growths. 
I  Seeds  do  not  plant  themselves  far  from  the  parent  tree,  because  they  / 
!  are  heavy  and  have  very  small  wings.  This  places  them  at  a  further  * 
:  disadvantage,  for  seed  eaters,  be  they  bird,  beast,  or  human,  can  eas- 
^ily  find  the  large,  chocolate-colored  nuts  where  they  fall.  Herds  of 
hogs  roaming  the  pine  belts  are  the  greatest  enemies  of  this  pine,  next 
after  fire.  If  tree  seeds  are  worth  5  cents  a  pound,  a  hog  turned 
loose  to  forage  on  wild  mast  will  devour  several  times  his  own  value 
in  a  single  season.  The  portion  of  its  range  lying  in  National  For- 
ests, where  fire  and  hogs  are  held  in  check,  shows  promising  young 
growth  of  seedlings.  Where  within  the  habitat  of  the  gray  pine 
the  foothill  oaks  have  been  cut  for  fuel,  and  reproduction  has  almost 
ceased,  the  pine  is  gaining  and  in  time  its  importance  as  a  fuel  supply 
will  be  recognized. 

This  pine  will,  it  is  believed,  produce  saw  timber  if  given  a  chance 
on  soils  fairly  good.  In  parts  of  California  where  it  grows  on  adobe 
soil  the  wood  is  willingly  accepted  for  mine  props,  both  on  account  of 
strength  and  durability. 

EARLY  USES. 

The'  first  settlers  in  California  soon  came  in  contact  with  gray 
pine,  which  grew  just  above  the  oaks  of  the  valleys,  lower  canyons, 
and  foothills.  Oak  was  preferred  for  fuel  where  it  was  convenient, 


GRAY  PINE.  87 

not  because  it  made  a  better  fire  than  the  pine,  but  because  it  was 
easier  to  cut.  The  fibers  of  gray  pine  are  interlaced  and  bound 
together,  the  wood  is  split  with  great  difficulty,  and  chopping  is  a 
slow  process.  For  that  reason  the  early  woodcutters  preferred  oak 
until  it  became  scarce.  The  pine  could  be  had  in  poles  and  logs  of 
greater  length  and  of  more  shapely  form  than  oak,  and  was  preferred 
for  fencing,  corrals,  and  sheds.  As  long  as  placer  mining  prevailed 
little  timber  was  needed,  but  when  quartz  mines  began  to  be  opened, 
props  and  frames  were  in  demand.  Gray  pine  at  once  rose  to  a 
place  of  importance,  because  in  many  instances  it  was  more  plentiful 
than  any  other  timber.  Tunnels  were  braced  and  roofed  with  it. 
The  wood  quickly  decays,  but  commonly  that  was  not  a  serious 
drawback,  for  a  mine  was  often  worked  out  in  a  few  months,  or 
within  that  space  of  time  the  prospector  would  discover  that  it  was 
unprofitable  and  abandon  it.  Another  important  use  of  this  wood 
for  mining  purposes  came  with  the  introduction  of  the  steam  engine 
to  take  the  place  of  the  arrastra,  or  stone  drag,  of  early  days.  The 
engine  demanded  fuel,  and  though  all  kinds  went  to  the  furnace,  gray 
pine  was  often  most  plentiful,  and  therefore  most  important.  In 
many  mining  districts  it  was  stripped  clean  for  miles.  Not  infre- 
quently it  was  carried  on  the  backs  of  burros,  with  peculiarly  con- 
structed pack  saddles,  over  narrow  trails  where  sleds  and  wheeled 
vehicles  could  not  be  taken.  In  two  ways  the  pine  was  economical 
for  steam  engines  in  remote  mines — it  was  light  in  weight  and  made 
more  heat  than  an  equal  weight  of  oak. 

Fence  posts  of  this  pine  were  frequently  set  when  other  woods  were 
not  convenient,  but  it  was  poor  material.  A  mass  of  fungus  would 
appear  at  the  surface  of  the  ground  within  three  or  four  months 
after  rain  had  dampened  the  wood,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  post 
would  rot  off.  Split  posts  gave  no  better  service  than  round.  An 
average  of  cost  and  term  of  service  for  posts  of  three  woods,  in  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  Cal.,  gives  for  redwood  25  cents  each,  with  from 
20  to  25  years'  service ;  incense  cedar,  20  cents  and  from  15  to  20  years' 
service ;  gray  pine,  10  cents  and  from  1  to  2  years'  service. 

The  wood  of  this  pine  was  long  preferred  for  ox  yokes  in  the 
lumber  regions  of  California.  Plow  beams  were  once,  and  still  occa- 
sionally are,  made  of  it;  and  it  gives  satisfaction  for  wagon  bolsters 
in  local  shops  and  factories. 

MANUFACTURE  AND  PRODUCTS. 

Efforts  up  to  this  time  to  give  gray  pine  posts  preservative  treat- 
ment to  retard  decay  have  not  produced  satisfactory  results.  The 
oleo-resin  of  this  wood  does  not  permit  creosote  to  enter  deeply  or 
easily,  and  more  experimenting  seems  necessary  before  a  cheap 'and 
effective  process  of  treatment  can  be  put  in  practice  to  make  the  wood 
available  for  fence  posts. 


88  USES   OF   COMMEECIAL  WOODS   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

It  is  believed  that  if  gray  pine  is  permitted  to  grow  in  good  soil 
and  in  fairly  dense  stands  it  will  produce  saw  timber  of  considerable 
value.  It  has  been  manufactured,  on  a  small  scale,  in  some  parts  of 
the  Coast  Range,  and  early  settlers  on  Huer  Huero  Creek,  a  tributary 
of  Salinas  River,  built  their  cabins  of  gray-pine  lumber.  Experience 
has  shown  that  saw  logs  should  be  peeled  at  once  after  felling,  and 
ought  to  be  converted  into  lumber  within  a  month  or  two.  The  sea- 
soning should  take  place  in  the  shade,  and  heavy  weights  should  be 
piled  on  the  boards  to  prevent  warping.  A  fair  second-grade  lumber 
will  result. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

Many  chemists  in  Europe  and  America  have  been  interested  in  the 
resin  or  turpentine  produced  by  the  gray  pine.  A  single  manufac- 
turer placed  an  order  for  500  barrels;  and  several  years  ago  the 
Alaska  Fur  Company  bought  the  entire  output  of  a  small  distilling 
plant  at  North  Fork,  Madera  County,  Cal.  The  plant  distilled  about 
20  barrels  a  year  of  high-grade  turpentine  from  large  roots.  The 
plant  burned  down  about  15  years  ago,  and  manufacturing  at  that 
place  stopped. 

There  are  two  flowing  seasons  for  this  tree  in  the  Sierra  Nevadas. 
One  opens  very  early,  and  closes  when  the  weather  grows  hot;  the 
other  is  in  full  current  by  the  middle  of  August.  The  trees  are  so 
scattered  and  of  so  many  sizes  that  the  profitable  gathering  of  tur- 
pentine will  be  difficult.  It  is  said  that  to  procure  500  barrels  50,000 
trees  must  be  tapped,  and  this  number  of  trees  can  be  found  only  by 
covering  large  areas. 

The  seeds  of  the  gray  pine  are  of  local  value  for  food,  though  not  in 
the  same  degree  as  those  of  the  singleleaf  pine  east  of  the  Sierras. 
The  gray-pine  nuts  have  hard  shells  and  must  be  broken  by  force 
before  the  kernels  can  be  extracted.  The  Indians  gather  them  in  the 
fall.  Next  to  the  Coulter  pine,  this  tree's  cones  are  the  heaviest  of 
all  American  pines. 

WHITE  BARK  PINE  (Pinus  albicaulis). 
PHYSICAL1  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 26  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent).1 

Specific  gravity. — 0.42  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.27  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 56  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 8,150  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
51  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 729,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  34  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

1  The  weight,  specific  gravity,  ash,  fuel  value,  breaking  strength,  and  factor  of  stiffness 
were  calculated  from  a  single  specimen  of  the  wood  which  grew  on  the  Frazer  River, 
British  Columbia. 


WHITE  BARK   PINE.  89 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  light,  soft,  brittle,  compact,  annual  rings 
very  narrow,  grain  fine,  but  nearly  always  twisted ;  surnmerwood  thin,  not 
conspicuous;  resin  passages  numerous,  not  large;  medullary  rays  numerous, 
obscure;  color  pale  brown,  sapwood  nearly  white  and  very  thin. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  white  bark  pine's  range  covers  parts  of  Montana,  Idaho, 
Washington,  Oregon,  Nevada,  Arizona,  and  California.  The  color 
of  the  bark  gives  the  name,  but  it  is  also  called  white  stem  pine,  scrub 
pine,  pitch  pine,  white  bark,  creeping  pine,  and  alpine  white  bark 
pine.  These  names  are  descriptive. 

If  this  tree  grew  in  a  region  of  abundant  timber  supply  it  would 
be  considered  of  no  importance,  because  of  its  scarcity  and  its  gnarled 
and  unshapely  form.  It  is  not  of  great  importance  in  the  region 
where  it  is  found,  though  it  is  sometimes  the  only  tree  to  be  seen  on 
bleak  mountains,  just  below  perpetual  snow.  Occasionally,  however, 
a  miner,  camper,  sheep  herder,  or  traveler  makes  use  of  it  to  supply 
his  urgent  wants  when  no  other  wood  can  be  had.  It  is  one  of  the 
three  or  four  most  enduring  mountain  trees  of  the  United  States.  It 
grows  at  elevations  of  from  5,000  to  10,000  feet  in  Idaho  and  Mon- 
tana, and  in  California  ranges  to  10,000  and  11,000  feet.  Growing 
commonly  in  pure  parklike  stands  at  extreme  altitudes,  at  its  lower 
range  it  has  for  associates  alpine  fir,  Engelmann  spruce,  Lyall  larch, 
limber  pine,  and  lodgepole  pine.  It  survives  a  temperature  some- 
times 60°  below  zero  and  storms  that  render  most  other  forms  of 
vegetable  life  impossible.  Its  own  seedlings  frequently  perish,  not 
from  cold  or  drought,  but  because  the  wind  thrashes  them  against 
the  rocks  that  surround  them  and  wears  them  to  pieces.  Those  that 
survive  are  apt  to  take  on  shapes  little  resembling  trees,  but  rather 
like  vast,  green  spiders  a  hundred  feet  in  circumference  that  seem 
sprawling  over  the  rocks.  This  applies  only  to  the  highest  and  most 
exposed  mountains ;  for  the  tree  has  a  wide  range,  and  in  some  parts 
of  it  the  timber  is  of  fairly  respectable  size  and  form.  In  the  Mono 
Basin,  east  of  the  Sierras  in  California,  fence  posts  are  sometimes  cut 
from  the  white  bark  pine ;  and  in  other  localities  a  little  fencing  mate- 
rial is  procured,  while  in  every  part  of  its  range,  along  the  mountains 
from  British  Columbia  to  Mexico,  it  makes  fuel  for  those  who  live  in 
or  pass  through  the  region  where  it  grows. 

On  the  Clearwater  and  Nez  Perce  National  Forests  the  species  is 
found  in  merchantable  size  over  rather  large  areas  at  altitudes  of 
from  5,000  to  6,800  feet.  The  trees  are  about  40  feet  high  and  have 
a  merchantable  length  of  24  feet.  Similar  growth  is  reported  in 
places  in  Montana. 

On  high  mountains  where  the  snowfall  is  heavy  the  limbs  of  this 
tree  may  extend  20  feet  or  more  and  lie  on  the  ground  like  creeping 
vines.  The  snow  holds  them  down  during  half  of  the  year,  and  they 
can  not  rise  when  the  weight  is  removed.  Wild  sheep,  deer,  bears, 


90  USES   OP   COMMERCIAL  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  other  animals  understand  the  value  of  the  recumbent  branches 
in  time  of  severe  weather  and  creep  beneath  them  for  shelter.  Trav- 
elers, overtaken  by  storms,  have  done  the  same,  and  it  is  thus  appar- 
ent that  the  uses  of  this  tree  are  not  confined  to  what  may  be  done 
with  the  wood  when  it  is  cut. 

The  slow  growth  of  the  white-bark  pine,  particularly  in  the  most 
exposed  situations,  may  challenge  comparison  with  the  trees  of  slow- 
est growth  anywhere.  Trunks  3^  inches  in  diameter  may  be  225  years 
old;  one  6  inches  through  had  426  rings;  while  one  17  inches  in 
diameter  was  over  800  years  old  and  less  than  6  feet  high.  By  the 
aid  of  a  magnifying  glass  John  Muir  counted  75  rings  in  a  branch 
one-eighth  inch  in  diameter.  Such  a  branch  is  so  tough  and  so  pliant 
that  it  may  be  tied  in  a  knot  like  a  cord.  Muir  said  that  he  knew  of 
only  two  trees  which  are  never  uprooted  by  the  wind — the  white-bark 
pine  and  the  mountain  juniper,  which  is  associated  Avith  it  in  the 
Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.1  Though  the  white-bark  pine  may  never 
be  wind  thrown,  trunks  with  roots  and  branches  attached  are  some- 
times found  at  the  base  of  precipices,  on  the  summits,  or  against  the 
sides  of  cliffs  where  they  once  grew.  The  breaking  away  of  the  rock, 
by  freezing  or  otherwise,  may  have  thrown  them  down.  Such  an  acci- 
dent sometimes  furnishes  fuel  for  a  mountain  traveler's  night  camp 
where  otherwise  he  would  sleep  without  fire.  Some  of  these  trunks 
and  roots,  when  the  branches  have  been  broken  off,  are  of  such  strange 
form  that  a  rather  close  examination  may  be  necessary  to  determine 
which  end  grew  upward. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  man  will  never  do  much  to  help  or 
hinder  the  growth  or  existence  of  this  tree.  Even  forest  fires  seldom 
touch  the  white-bark  pine.  It  grows  among  rocky  masses  where  fire 
finds  so  little  fuel  that  it  can  not  go.  The  tree  plants  its  seeds  within 
a  few  inches  of  where  they  ripen  and  fall.  They  come  wingless  from 
the  cones.  It  seems  that  nature's  handicap  begins  even  before  the 
seed  makes  its  escape  from  the  inclosing  scales,  for  the  short  wing 
that  might  be  supposed  to  aid  the  seed  in  finding  a  place  to  be  planted 
grows  fast  to  the  scale  and  holds  the  seed  until  it  can  free  itself  by 
tearing  its  wing  off,  when  it  falls  to  the  inhospitable  rocks  or  sterile 
soil  beneath.  Under  such  adverse  circumstances  it  is  too  much  to 
expect  the  white-bark  pine  to  extend  its  range  or  to  increase  its  im- 
portance. The  wonder  is  that  it  is  able  to  hold  its  own. 

In  its  best  growth  the  wood  of  white-bark  pine  much  resembles 
that  of  white  pine.  Where  it  grows  in  size  to  give  a  clear  length  of 
from  20  to  30  feet,  it  should  serve  fairly  well  for  rough  construction 
material  in  the  form  of  building  logs,  mine  props  and  stulls,  bridge 
timbers,  fence  posts,  and  for  fuel.  The  seeds  are  used  by  Indians  as 
food. 


1  Mountains  of  California,  by  John  Muir. 


LIMBEB  PINE.  91 

LIMBER  PINE  (Pinus  flexilis). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 27.2  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.44  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.28  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 60  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 8,700  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
54  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 937,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  44  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  light,  soft,  narrow-ringed,  compact ;  summer- 
wood  narrow,  not  conspicuous ;  resin  passages  numerous,  large ;  medullary  rays 
numerous,  conspicuous;  color  light,  clear  yellow,  changing  to  reddish  on  expo- 
sure, the  sapwood  nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height,  30  to  50  feet ;  diameter,  12  to  36  inches. 

SUPPLY. 

The  limber  pine  is  known  also  as  white  pine,  bull  pine,  Rocky 
Mountain  white  pine,  and  limber-twig  pine.  Its  drooping  limbs  are 
long,  slender,  and  flexible,  hence  its  name.  It  ranges  from  Canada 
southward  along  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  New  Mexico  and  extends 
westward  into  Arizona  and  California.  In  the  Sierra  Neva  das  the 
upper  limit  of  its  range  is  12,000  feet.  In  the  Rockies,  at  the  lowest 
range  of  this  tree's  growth  and  from  4,000  to  6,000  feet  elevation,  it 
forms  open,  scattered  stands  of  round-topped,  stunted  trees  of  no  com- 
mercial value,  usually  in  company  with  Rocky  Mountain  red  cedar  or 
western  yellow  pine.  At  timber  line — from  8,500  to  10,000  feet — it 
assumes  a  similar  or  even  more  stunted  form,  associating  with  Lyall 
larch  or  other  alpine  species.  At  intermediate  elevations  it  occa- 
sionally produces  merchantable  timber  in  company  with  Douglas  fir, 
and  possibly  also  with  white-bark  pine,  lodgepole  pine,  Englemann 
spruce,  and  alpine  fir. 

It  is,  or  was  once,  the  most  important  timber  tree  of  central  Ne- 
vada, but  in  many  districts  it  has  been  cut  clean  to  supply  mine 
timbers,  rough  lumber,  fuel,  fencing,  and  charcoal.  It  forms  a  small 
proportion  of  the  merchantable  stand  in  the  Gallatin  and  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  National  Forests,  in  company  with  Douglas  fir,  lodgepole 
pine,  and  white-bark  pine.  It  is  a  tree  of  slow  growth.  Its  seeds  are 
practically  wingless,  and  reproduction  is  restricted  to  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  parent. 

It  is  commonly  a  low,  thick-trunked,  much-branched  tree,  usually 
between  25  and  50  feet  high,  with  a  trunk  anywhere  from  5  inches 
to  3  feet  in  diameter.  In  its  usual  habitat  the  tree  is  so  stunted  and 
the  trunk  so  short  as  to  yield  no  merchantable  logs.  In  better  loca- 
tions, however,  it  is  possible  to  cut  10- foot  or  even  longer  logs.  When 
mixed  with  other  species  in  sheltered  canyons  it  is  a  tall,  straight 
tree,  in  shape  somewhat  similar  to  lodgepole  pine.  As  compared  with 


92  USES   OF   COMMEECIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

white  bark  pine,  when  grown  in  the  same  situations,  the  limber  pine 
has  the  longer,  straighter  trunk  of  the  two. 


USES. 


It  is  seldom  that  the  quality  of  the  wood  of  this  pine  is  sufficiently 
good  for  saw  timber,  and  even  then  a  good  proportion  will  be  very 
knotty.  Frequently  large  trees  show  decay  at  the  heart.  When  logs 
fairly  clear  and  sound  can  be  procured  the  lumber  is  suitable  for 
window  frames  and  interior  finish.  In  the  Rocky  Mountains  this 
wood  is  among  the  best  native  species  for  flooring,  when  sufficiently 
clear  for  that  use ;  but  very  little  of  the  grades  demanded  for  flooring 
or  finish  ever  reaches  market,  and  what  does  go  to  market  is  listed 
simply  as  pine,  and  the  purchaser  seldom  knows  the  exact  species 
he  is  using. 

When  green  the  wood  is  extremely  heavy,  and  if  left  in  water  any 
length  of  time  will  sink.  After  being  seasoned,  however,  it  becomes 
extremely  light.  At  a  sawmill  which  formerly  operated  on  Dupuyer 
Creek,  on  the  Lewis  and  Clark  National  Forest,  it  was  found  that 
limber  pine  could  be  manufactured  into  a  good  grade  of  lumber  and 
shingles.  The  stem  of  the  tree  was  generally  free  from  defects  and 
knots  and  could  be  used  for  the  better  grades  of  finishing  lumber. 
This  limber  pine  had  grown  mixed  with  a  heavy  stand  of  Douglas 
fir  in  a  sheltered  canyon,  and  the  trees  had  grown  tall  and  straight. 
It  is  seldom,  of  course,  that  the  quality  of  the  wood  can  be  found  as 
good  as  that  on  Dupuyer  Creek.  In  its  most  common  form  of 
growth  limber  pine  is  useful  only  for  fence  posts  and  for  fuel.  The 
posts  are  nearly  always  very  knotty  and  are  often  of  undesirable 
shape.  The  wood  holds  staples  well  for  wire  fence,  and  is  durable 
in  contact  with  the  ground,  though  it  is  not  considered  as  long  last- 
ing as  bristle-cone  pine  when  set  as  posts. 

A  very  unique  method  of  securing  a  preservative  treatment  of  lim- 
ber and  white-bark  pine  timber  for  fence  posts  is  practiced  by  ranch- 
ers in  the  vicinity  of  the  Madison  National  Forest,  in  Montana.  A 
sapling  growth  the  size  of  the  posts  desired  is  selected,  and  in  the 
spring  as  soon  as  the  sap  runs  freely  so  that  the  bark  will  slip,  the 
rancher  peels  the  bark  from  the  standing  tree  for  the  length  to  be 
used.  The  tree  immediately  exudes  a  sufficient  quantity  of  resin  to 
cover  the  wound  and  dies.  Six  or  eight  months  later  the  rancher  cuts 
the  tree,  now  thoroughly  seasoned,  smears  the  cut  ends  with  tar,  and 
has  a  post  impervious  to  water  and  immune  to  insects  or  fungus. 
Posts  so  treated  are  said  to  last  many  years.  One  lot  was  examined 
which  had  been  set  for  20  years,  and  the  posts  seemed  as  sound  as 
ever. 

Railroads  within  reach  of  this  pine  buy  ties  made  of  sound,  fire- 
killed  timber.  Miners  employ  the  wood  for  props,  posts,  and  other 
timbers,  both  above  and  below  ground.  It  is  used  in  mountain  roads 


KNOBCONE   PINE,  93 

and  trails  for  bridges  and  corduroy.  It  makes  good  charcoal.  Lim- 
ber pine  has  proven  the  most  resistant  of  any  species  to  sulphurous 
fumes  from  copper  smelters  on  the  Deerlodge  National  Forest.  It 
has  continued  to  make  thrifty  growth  where  all  other  species  have 
died  from  the  fumes. 

CALIFORNIA  SWAMP  PINE  (Pinus  nmricata). 
PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood.— 30.8  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.49  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.26  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value.— 66  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 14,000  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
87  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,652,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  78  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood,  very  strong  and  hard,  compact;  summerwood 
broad,  resinous,  resin  passages  few,  not  prominent;  medullary  rays  numerous, 
thin ;  color,  light-brown,  the  thick  sapwood  nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height,  45  to  90  feet ;  diameter,  12  to  24  inches. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

California  swamp  pine  is  not  abundant  and  its  uses  are  few,  yet 
the  tree  has  characteristics  which  give  it  local  importance.  It  occurs 
near  the  California  coast,  from  100  miles  north  of  San  Francisco  to 
200  miles  south.  In  the  southern  part  of  its  range  it  is  sometimes  cut 
for  fuel  and  for  small  farm  timbers,  and  in  the  north  it  is  occasionally 
employed  for  skids,  rough  bridges,  and  scaffolds  in  lumber  operations. 
It  grows  in  the  vicinity  of  redwood  forests,  and  in  cutting  that  timber 
some  of  the  pine  is  made  use  of.  The  seeds  blow  into  the  openings 
where  the  redwood  is  cut,  and  in  some  localities  it  is  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  ground.  It  occupies  such  soils  as  it  finds  vacant,  and  will 
grow  in  cold  clay,  in  peat  bogs,  on  barren  sand  or  gravel,  and  on 
wind-swept  ridges  exposed  to  ocean  fogs.  It  thrives  in  full  sunlight, 
or  it  will  grow  in  shade.  Its  ability  to  grow  where  few  other  trees 
can  maintain  themselves  promises  some  future  usefulness,  though  it  is 
not  probable  that  it  can  ever  be  of  much  importance.  The  wood  is 
very  strong  and  hard.  The  tree  is  known  by  several  names,  among 
them  dwarf  pine,  pricklecone  pine,  bishop  pine,  and  obispo  pine 
("bishop"  being  the  English  equivalent  of  the  Spanish  word 
"obispo"). 

KNOBCONE  PINE  (Pinus  attenuata). 

PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 21.8  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 
Specific  gravity. — 0.35  (Sargent). 
ASh. — 0.33  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 
Fuel  value. — 47  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 


94  USES   OF   COMMERCIAL,  WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 5,730  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
36  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 616,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  29  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Light,  soft,  not  strong,  brittle;  annual  rings  nar- 
row, due  to  slow  growth ;  summerwood  narrow,  not  conspicuous ;  resin  passages 
numerous,  large,  prominent ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  thin ;  color  light  brown, 
the  thick  sapwood  nearly  white,  or  slightly  tinged  with  red. 

Growth. — Height,  25  to  40  feet ;  diameter,  8  to  12  inches,  though  much  larger 
in  favorable  situations. 

SUPPLY   AND    USES. 

Knobcone  pine  is  not  a  valuable  timber  tree.  It  sometimes  is  cut 
for  fuel  and  has  a  few  minor  uses  about  ranches  and  mines,  but  it 
is  too  small  and  too  scarce  to  become  important.  It  grows  in  dry 
mountain  regions  in  Oregon  and  California,  and  in  exceptionally 
favorable  situations  yields  small  saw  timber  or  good-sized  mine 
props.  Like  the  jack  pine  of  the  Lake  States,  it  is  short  lived,  even 
when  no  accident  overtakes  it,  but  it  usually  falls  a  victim  to  fire.  It 
prepares  for  an  early  death  by  producing  cones  when  from  5  to  8 
feet  high.  Miners  once  called  the  tree  hickory  pine,  not  because  the 
wood  was  tough  like  hickory,  but  because  it  was  white.  A  difference 
of  opinion  exists  as  to  its  toughness,  some  claiming  uses  for  it  on  ac- 
count of  that  property,  while  others  say  the  wood  is  brittle.  The  lat- 
ter quality  is  indicated  by  the  tests  which  have  been  made.  The  cones 
are  so  persistent  that  not  infrequently  the  tree  is  unable  to  crowd 
them  off,  and  they  become  embedded  in  the  wood.  The  cones  seldom 
open  to  release  the  seed,  and  a  tree  may  retain  the  accumulated  crops 
of  nearly  its  whole  life,  which  may  amount  to  3  or  4  pounds  of  seed. 
Then  a  fire  kills  the  tree,  the  cones  open,  and  the  wind  scatters  the 
small  black  winged  seeds  upon  the  bared  mineral  soil.  Seedlings 
must  have  light,  however,  or  they  will  not  last  long,  and  this  charac- 
teristic has  given  the  tree  the  names  "  sun-loving  pine  "  and  "  sunny 
slope  pine."  Although  the  fuel  value  of  the  wood  is  very  low,  more 
is  used  for  fuel  than  for  any  other  purpose. 

BRISTLECONE  PINE  (Pinus  aristata). 
PHYSICAL   PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 34.7  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.56  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.3  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 75  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  ( Sargent ) . 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 9,100  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
57  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 1,032,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  49  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  moderately  light,  soft,  not  strong,  very  nar- 
row ringed,  compact;  grain  fine  and  usually  twisted;  summerwood  thin,  dark- 


BRISTLECONE   PINE.  95 

colored,  conspicuous,  resinous;  resin  passages  few,  not  prominent;  medullary 
rnys  numerous,  obscure;  color  reddish,  the  thin  sapwood  nearly  white. 

Growth. — Height  rarely  exceeding  40  feet  or  diameter  more  than  3  feet, 
usually  much  smaller. 

SUPPLY  AND  USES. 

The  bristlecone  pine,  so  named  because  of  the  sharp  bristles  on  the 
ends  of  the  cone  scales,  is  a  high-mountain  tree,  running  up  to  the 
timber  line  at  an  altitude  of  12,000  feet,  and  seldom  occurring  below 
6,000  or  7,000  feet.  It  ekes  out  its  existence  in  many  regions  on  dry, 
stony  ridges,  very  cold  and  stormy  in  winter  and  subject  to  pro- 
tracted drought  during  the  growing  season.  Under  such  conditions 
a  large  and  symmetrical  tree  is  impossible,  and  the  bristlecone  pine's 
trunk  is  short,  excessively  knotty,  and  tapers  rapidly.  It  reaches  its 
best  development  among  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  extends  its  range 
westward  to  the  mountains  of  California,  and  is  found  in  Utah, 
Nevada,  and  northern  Arizona.  It  grows  slowly  and  reaches  an  age 
of  200  years  or  more. 

The  great  altitude  at  which  it  grows  and  the  remoteness  of  the 
districts  where  it  abounds  would  exclude  it  from  many  of  the  com- 
mon uses.  In  addition  to  that  disadvantage,  it  is  not  desirable  in 
either  form  or  quality.  Yet  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks  it  has  been 
and  still  is  important  in  certain  localities.  Many  valuable  mines  in 
central  Nevada  were  developed  largely  through  the  use  of  this  un- 
shapely tree.  In  some  sections  it  was  cut  so  closely  that  scarcely  a 
seed  tree  was  left.  It  was  made  to  serve  as  mine  props,  stulls,  lagging, 
windlass  frames,  cabins,  fuel,  and  other  necessary  accessories  to  min- 
ing. It  was  sometimes  the  best  charcoal  wood  obtainable,  and  the 
product  of  the  pits  was  carried  long  distances  on  pack  animals  to 
supply  blacksmiths  in  mining  camps. 

It  is  rarely  sawed  into  lumber,  but  is  occasionally  employed  as 
fence  posts,  the  resin  in  the  wood  causing  it  to  give  fairly  long 
service.  Its  use  as  railroad  ties  has  been  reported,  but  it  is  not 
listed  as  tie  material  by  any  of  the  leading  railroads.  It  finds  place 
in  the  construction  of  stock  corrals,  sheds,  fences,  and  sometimes 
barns  and  cabins.  The  grain  of  the  wood  is  so  involved  and  twisted, 
and  so  many  knots  abound,  that  no  split  commodities,  such  as 
shingles,  shakes,  or  pickets,  can  be  made  from  it. 

There  is  no  likelihood  that  the  bristlecone  pine  will  ever  rise  to  an 
important  place  in  the  country's  lumber  supply,  but  it  is  perhaps  the 
most  valuable  crop  that  the  sterile  and  rocky  peaks  and  ridges  will 
produce.  It  crowds  out  no  tree  that  is  more  valuable,  and  it  is  able 
to  maintain  its  existence.  Its  small  seeds  have  ample  wing  area, 
and  the  wind  carries  them  to  a  distance  of  GOO  feet  or  more  from  the 
parent  tree.  They  take  root  and  grow  in  rocky  soil  where  no  humus 
is  visible. 


96  USES   OF   COMMEKCIAL   WOODS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

FOXTAIL  PINE  (Pinus  balfouriana). 
PHYSICAL    PROPERTIES. 

Weight  of  dry  wood. — 33.9  pounds  per  cubic  foot  (Sargent). 

Specific  gravity. — 0.54  (Sargent). 

Ash. — 0.4  per  cent  of  weight  of  dry  wood  (Sargent). 

Fuel  value. — 73  per  cent  that  of  white  oak  (Sargent). 

Breaking  strength  (modulus  of  rupture). — 5,900  pounds  per  square  inch,  or 
37  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Factor  of  stiffness  (modulus  of  elasticity). — 846,000  pounds  per  square  inch, 
or  40  per  cent  that  of  longleaf  pine  (Sargent). 

Character  and  qualities. — Wood  moderately  light,  soft,  weak,  brittle;  annual 
rings  very  narrow,  compact ;  summerwood  very  narrow,  dark-colored ;  resin 
passages  few,  not  conspicuous ;  medullary  rays  numerous,  obscure ;  wood  satiny 
and  susceptible  of  a  good  polish. 

Growth. — Height,  30  to  50  feet :  diameter,  10  to  16  inches. 

SUPPLY    AND   USES. 

This  tree  is  occasionally  called  spruce  pine.  It  is-  confined  to  Cal- 
ifornia and  to  a  few  of  the  high  mountain  regions.  It  is  too  scarce 
to  be  of  much  importance  as  a  source  of  lumber,  yet  it  is  sometimes 
cut  where  it  is  associated  with  other  species  near  the  lower  limits 
of  its  range.  Trees  are  small  and  knotty,  but  when  a  clear  stick  is 
found  the  wood  is  compact  and  susceptible  of  a  good  polish.  Its 
growth  is  slow.  Where  the  tree  is  at  its  best  it  attains  a  diameter 
of  about  18  inches  in  300  years  and  a  height  of  60  feet  or  less.  In 
the  higher  parts  of  its  range  it  is  too  small,  ragged,  and  dispersed 
to  have  value  other  than  as  fuel,  and  not  much  for  that,  since  few 
people  live  in  those  regions.  It  grows  at  an  elevation  of  13,000 
feet  near  Farewell  Gap,  in  the  Sierras,  and  few  species,  if  any,  in 
this  country  equal  it  for  altitude.  Within  its  range  it  is  frequently 
the  upper  fringe  of  the  timber  line,  its  nearest  neighbors  being  the 
white-bark  pine  and  western  juniper.  This  pine's  seeds,  unlike  those 
of  the  white-bark  pine,  escape  with  their  wing  from  the  cone  and 
are  widely  scattered  by  wind,  thus  assisting  the  tree  to  maintain  its 
position  in  regions  which  otherwise  would  have  little  or  no  timber  of 
any  kind.  Sheep  herders,  miners,  tourists,  and  others  who  spend 
the  summer  among  California's  highest  mountains  are  often  indebted 
to  the  foxtail  pine  for  their  camp  fuel.  Near  the  upper  limit  of  its 
range  the  tree  frequently  dies  at  the  top — which  is  often  not  much 
•above  a  man's  height — and  the  dry  wood,  which  is  barked  by  the 
wind  and  bleached  and  whitened  by  sun  and  age  until  it  resembles 
bone  more  than  wood,  is  gathered  by  breaking  off  the  dry  branches, 

o 


THIS  POO" 


Gaylamount 

Pamphlet 

Binder 

Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat. Off. 


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